WNBA, players union conclude overnight meeting without new CBA

A meeting between WNBA representatives and the players association ended early Wednesday morning without a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement, multiple outlets reported.

The meeting, held at a New York hotel, began at 5 p.m. Tuesday and ended about 12 hours later, ESPN reported. League officials had set March 10 as the deadline for a new CBA agreement to avoid the loss of regular-season games.

The league and the players have been at a standstill for months, with revenue sharing and housing among the key issues. The regular season is scheduled to begin May 8.

"It's complex," WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert told reporters outside the hotel after 5 a.m. "We're working towards a win-win deal like we've been saying, a transformational deal for these players that balances all the things we've been trying to balance with continued investment by our owners. So we're working hard towards that, and we still have work to do."

Women's National Basketball Players Association executive director Terri Jackson said "conversations are continuing, and they need to be," ESPN reported.

"Every meeting is a positive meeting," Jackson said, per ESPN. "Seriously, every meeting is a positive meeting. The fact that we scheduled meetings, that we offer dates to schedule meetings that we actually get together, get in the room. I think that's positive. It's taking as long as it's taking. But you know, that's what it needs to be."

The league has not revealed whether it has flexibility to start the season on time with the deadline passed.

The WNBA draft is scheduled for April 13, with training camps opening six days later. The league also must hold a free agency period, an expansion draft with the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire set to begin play this upcoming season, as well as preseason games.

The players have been without a collective bargaining agreement since they opted out of their existing agreement in October 2024, a year before its Oct. 31, 2025, expiration, with hopes of having a new deal in place last fall.

--Field Level Media