It is done. The WNBA and the Women's National Basketball Players Association reached a verbal agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning, ending one of the most contentious labor fights in the league's 30-year history and clearing the way for the 2026 season to tip off as scheduled on May 8.

The deal was struck just after 3 a.m. ET at a Midtown Manhattan hotel following eight consecutive days of marathon bargaining sessions that totaled more than 100 hours of negotiations. Both sides reportedly celebrated with a champagne toast. A formal term sheet still needs to be finalized, and the agreement must be ratified by both the players and the WNBA Board of Governors before it becomes official, but the biggest hurdle is cleared.

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The numbers are significant. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the salary cap under the new CBA will jump from $1.5 million in 2025 to $7 million, a more than fourfold increase. The average salary is expected to land around $600,000, up from roughly $120,000 last season. The minimum salary will surpass $300,000, compared to $66,079 previously. The supermax will start at $1.4 million, up from $249,244 in 2025. Revenue share for players is set at nearly 20 percent on average across the life of the deal.

For the first time, player salaries are tied to a truly meaningful share of league revenue. This is not just a raise. It is a restructure.

The path to this moment was anything but smooth. The WNBPA opted out of the previous CBA back in October 2024, and the original expiration came and went the following month with no deal in place. Both sides blew past two extensions, free agency was frozen in January under a moratorium, and by early March the possibility of delays to the 30th season had become a real part of the conversation. Players voted in December to authorize the executive committee to call a strike if necessary, and the league came close enough to the edge that Breanna Stewart and Kelsey Plum publicly expressed concern about what a work stoppage would cost the game's momentum.

The central fight was always about revenue sharing. Players pushed for a model tied directly to the league's gross revenue, while the league's counter involved a percentage of net revenue that came with a much higher bar to clear. Under the previous 2020 deal, the league hit its revenue sharing target for the first time in 2025, distributing $8 million across 13 teams. The new deal is built to make that connection more substantial and more consistent going forward.

This resolution matters beyond the money. The WNBA is entering 2026 with 15 teams, its most since 2002. The league's 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBCUniversal launches this season, worth roughly $200 million annually. Three expansion franchises in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia paid record $250 million fees to join. The league's attendance and viewership both broke records in 2025. This CBA needed to match the moment, and by most early accounts it does.

Nneka Ogwumike put it plainly: "We always told you we were going to stand on business. That's what this looks like."

WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike and Breanna Stewart both made clear that the deal was negotiated with the full roster in mind, not just the players at the top. Stewart said the new structure will ensure every player feels the difference, from stars to minimum-contract players who previously operated with too little financial stability and too few professional supports. Cathy Engelbert called it a fair win for both sides. WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson framed the result in two words: player empowerment.

There is still work to be done before the season actually begins. A formal term sheet needs to be signed, ratification votes from players and the Board of Governors need to happen, and then the league must run a double expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, navigate free agency for more than 100 players, and hold the college draft on April 13. Training camp opens April 19. Preseason starts April 25. The clock is tight but the runway is there.

The 2026 WNBA season is happening on time. And based on everything agreed to in a Midtown Manhattan hotel in the early hours of Wednesday morning, it is going to look very different than the league players suited up for just one year ago.