The tension between the WNBA and the players’ union has been rising for months, and it doesn’t look like it will stop anytime soon. Ever since the WNBPA opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement in 2024, both sides have been locked in a back-and-forth over how the league should value its players.

But with the deadline for a new CBA now just days away, negotiations have become even more critical and more contentious. As per reports, the latest proposal from the league hasn’t brought the two sides any closer. In fact, it might have done the opposite.

The league rolled out a proposal that, on paper, looks historic: a system that could allow star players to earn more than $1.1 million, boost the average salary past $460,000, and raise the minimum above $220,000. But despite the big numbers, the WNBPA isn’t impressed!

Why Did the WNBPA Reject the WNBA’s $1.1 Million CBA Proposal?

According to ESPN, the players believe the offer does nothing to fix the issue they’ve been fighting over for more than a year: the league’s fixed salary-cap structure. The Nneka Ogwumike-led WNBPA wants a system tied directly to revenue, similar to the NBA’s BRI model. Without that, they argue, the proposal only repackages the same framework that’s kept salaries artificially low and left revenue-sharing bonuses untouched for the entire length of the current CBA.

The league previously said in a statement that it has proposed “significant guaranteed salary cap increases and substantial uncapped revenue sharing that enables player salaries to grow as the league’s business grows.” The union responded in a statement that said the proposal “put lipstick on a pig and retread a system that isn’t tied to any part of the business and intentionally undervalues the players.”

The now widely promoted $1.1 million figure is also said not to represent a true base salary. FOS’ Annie Costabile reports that the league’s proposed $1.1 million max salary is “misleading.” Instead, it combines a top-end salary with additional potential revenue-sharing, revenue sharing that has never been triggered under the current CBA. As per reports, the league’s own proposal still places the supermax base salary for 2026 between $800,000 and $850,000. That range is unchanged from what the league floated months earlier, meaning no player would sign a base deal worth $1.1 million.

That concern has only grown as the union looks at the broader financial picture. Even as WNBA revenues surged, with projections estimating growth from $710 million in 2024 to more than $1 billion in 2025, player salaries have increased just 3% annually due to the fixed-cap structure. Studies show that players accounted for only 9.3% of league revenue in 2022, and that share has likely decreased as the business expands.

What Is Included in the WNBA’s $1.1 Million Proposal?

At first glance, the league’s latest offer looks like the most aggressive financial package the WNBA has ever put on the table. The headline number, a maximum salary that can climb above $1.1 million, is designed to signal a new era, one where more than one star per roster could earn seven figures.

Along with that, the league is pitching a minimum salary that would rise to over $220,000, a massive jump from the current floor, and an average salary that would push past $460,000 in the first year alone. In total, more than 180 players would see immediate boosts if the agreement went through.

But a closer look reveals what players are really reacting to.

What Are the WNBPA’s Demands for the New CBA?

At the core of everything, all the players want is a call for a revenue-sharing system tied directly to league income. A system where player compensation automatically rises as the league becomes more profitable. For the WNBPA, this is the only way to ensure long-term fairness and to prevent salaries from stagnating while revenues soar.

The union is also pushing for clearer financial transparency from the league, improvements to working conditions, stronger year-round investment in player marketing, and a modernised economic framework that treats players as true partners rather than labour inside a rigid system. With ten days remaining before the current CBA expires, the union believes this is its best chance to secure lasting structural change rather than temporary pay bumps.

“It sounds good and they can always wave a big number in your face,” opening about the proposal, veteran guard Sophie Cunningham told FOS recently. “But what happens when the business continues to go up? Does that mean that our salaries are going to continue to go up, or will they stay the same?”

With the deadline just days away, the clock is working against both sides. Expansion drafts, free agency, sponsorship renewals, and the league’s entire offseason calendar are now hanging in the balance.