WNBA, players' union agree to moratorium, halting initial stages of free agency

The sides are continuing to negotiate in good faith on a new CBA and are far apart on salaries and revenue sharing.

The moratorium will halt the initial stages of free agency in which teams would seek to deliver qualifying offers and franchise tag designations to players.

Before the moratorium, the WNBA, under U.S. labor law, had a status-quo obligation to allow teams to send out qualifying offers under the expired CBA agreement. Sunday was the first day that teams would have sent out offers to players.

While the moratorium makes sense for both sides, they are still far apart on key issues.

The league’s most recent offer last month would guarantee a maximum base salary of $1 million in 2026 that could reach $1.3 million through revenue sharing. That’s up from the current $249,000 and could grow to nearly $2 million over the life of the agreement, a person familiar with the negotiations told the AP earlier this month. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.

Under the league’s proposal, players would receive in excess of 70% of net revenue — though that would be their take of the profits after expenses are paid. Those expenses would include upgraded facilities, charter flights, five-star hotels, medical services, security and arenas.

The average salary in 2026 would be more than $530,000, up from its current $120,000, and grow to more than $770,000 over the life of the agreement. The minimum salary would grow from its current $67,000 to approximately $250,000 in the first year, the person told the AP.

The proposal would also financially pay star young players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, who are all still on their rookie contracts, nearly double the league minimum.

Revenue sharing is one of the major sticking points in the negotiations.

The union’s counter proposal to the league would give players around 30% of the gross revenue. The player’s percentage would be from money generated before expenses for the first year and teams would have a $10.5 million salary cap to sign players. Under the union’s proposal, the revenue sharing percent would go up slightly each year.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball