Reports: WNBA, WNBPA agree to moratorium on league business

Field Level Media|published: Mon 12th January, 20:46 2026

Aug 31, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Valkyries guard Kaitlyn Chen (2) holds a ball as the WNBA logo appears on the ball and shorts before the game against the Indiana Fever at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The WNBA and Women's National Basketball Players Association agreed to a moratorium on league business, specifically free agency, according to several reports Monday.

The sides failed to reach a deal for a new collective bargaining agreement by Friday's deadline, which had already been extended twice since the end of the 2025 season.

After the CBA officially expired at midnight ET on Friday, the sides entered a "status quo" period in which the working conditions of the previous agreement are maintained, and the league said in a statement that negotiations "remain ongoing" with the players' union.

With a moratorium in place, however, WNBA franchises are not allowed to extend qualifying offers or "core designations" to their players, nor to negotiate with or sign free agents.

Players are waiting for the new CBA to be finalized and ratified because of the expected leap in salary-cap space and minimum and maximum salaries.

The levels of player salaries and the methods of revenue sharing remain key sticking points. The WNBA's latest offer included between 50-70% of the league's net revenues going to the players, while the union wants a certain percentage of the gross revenue instead, per ESPN and USA Today reports.

The WNBA has not lost games due to labor issues in its 30-year history. However, the continued negotiation standoff shrinks an offseason in which it has to fit in an expansion draft for the new Portland and Toronto franchises, free agency and the college draft in a shorter period.

--Field Level Media