No extension in WNBA labor talks, Stewart says

MIAMI — New York Liberty star and WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart said the players’ association and WNBA will not agree to another collective bargaining agreement extension after the deadline passes Friday.

The two parties instead will enter a period of «status quo,» in which the current CBA would be maintained, and the league and union can continue negotiating.

«We are not coming to an agreement by tomorrow, I can tell you that,» Stewart said Thursday after practice at Unrivaled. «We’re just going to continue to negotiate in good faith.»

In mid-December, the WNBA’s players voted to give WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike and the executive committee, including Stewart and co-vice president Napheesa Collier, the authority to potentially initiate a strike. Stewart said calling a strike is «not something that we’re going to do right this second, but we have that in our back pocket.»

Sources told ESPN that the WNBA has not been considering a lockout. League sources believe both sides will get a deal done and there will be a 2026 season.

But the WNBA and players’ association remain far apart on several key issues, including what a revenue sharing system should look like — particularly if it should include gross or net revenue.

Net revenue is defined as revenue after subtracting expenses, whereas gross revenue is revenue before subtracting expenses. The WNBA views gross revenue as an inaccurate reflection of the business since it doesn’t incorporate the expenses needed to operate teams and the league.

On the other hand, the WNBPA believes players who provide the labor and have no control over expenses shouldn’t essentially be paid last.

Multiple sources told ESPN last week that the WNBA is projecting that a recent league proposal that would give players about 30% of gross revenue and set approximately a $10.5 million salary cap would result in $700 million losses over the life of the agreement. The sources said that would be more than the combined losses of the league and its teams in the WNBA’s first 29 years of existence.

But another source close to the negotiations said the union believes its revenue sharing model still puts the league in a «profitable position.»

The league has proposed a system in which players would receive in excess of 50% of net revenue, a source told ESPN, while the union is proposing a system in which the players would receive about 30% of gross revenue.

Stewart, as well as other players at Unrivaled, acknowledged that finding some form of compromise is crucial — and really the only path forward — in the negotiations.

«While we are both seemingly far apart, there is a place where we can come and find a mutual ground,» she said.

Paige Bueckers added: «There are some things we just won’t budge on, and we think that we should stand firm in, and then there are things we think we can meet halfway on.»

«That’s what negotiating is,» Chelsea Gray added. «There are compromises on both ends. There are some things that we’re not willing to compromise on, so there’s a standard that we won’t go below. And so that means that we’re having to wait a little longer to not go below our standard, then that’s what it is.»