Kelsey Plum Calls WNBA Offer a 'Win' as CBA Talks Push Toward March 10 Deadline

Kelsey Plum, the WNBPA first vice president, said the recent WNBA proposal represents a "significant win" while cautioning that a strike would hurt both players and the league. The comment comes as both sides race to complete terms before a March 10 target that could affect the 2026 regular season.

Kelsey Plum emphasizes revenue-share progress and warns a strike would be damaging

Plum reiterated that players want to play and that negotiations will continue, but she framed the league’s move to a revenue-sharing system as a major achievement for the union. She highlighted the basic cause-and-effect at the center of the dispute: under revenue sharing, a shutdown or strike would reduce league receipts and therefore reduce the pool available to players—"no revenue, no revenue to share. " That dynamic, she said, makes a work stoppage the worst outcome for both sides.

The player leadership has authorized a seven-player executive committee to call a strike when necessary, an action taken in December. Leadership unity has frayed somewhat: during a recent player call, more than half of player leadership reaffirmed keeping a strike on the table while other members publicly counseled against it as talks advance.

March 10 deadline and potential impact on the May 8 regular season

Negotiations have been ongoing for nearly 17 months since the WNBPA opted out of the previous collective bargaining agreement, and the league set a March 10 target for a term sheet. League officials have signaled that missing that date could affect the schedule ahead of the regular season, which is slated to begin on May 8. The narrowing window creates pressure for both sides to resolve remaining gaps quickly.

In the days before the deadline, league negotiators submitted a new counterproposal that included a modest bump to the salary cap, raising it from $5. 65 million to $5. 75 million. That adjustment, while numerically small, is part of a package of proposals intended to bridge differences before the deadline.

Negotiation specifics: revenue percentages, contract changes and roster implications

Both sides now accept the principle of revenue sharing, but they remain far apart on structure and percentage. The WNBPA’s opening demand has moved toward a plan that would deliver an average of 26% of gross league revenue to players, measured before expense deductions. The league has proposed a system that would allocate 70% of net revenue to players—after expenses—and that offer equates to less than 15% of gross revenue based on league projections.

Contract mechanics are also on the table. The league’s latest proposal would accelerate eligibility for maximum contracts for some younger players on rookie deals: a rookie named to the first or second All-WNBA team could reach a standard max contract in year four, and a rookie MVP could reach a supermax in year four. The supermax has been framed at 20% of the salary cap while the standard max would be roughly 17. 5%.

Housing provisions and roster protections remain disputed as well. The league’s housing proposal would provide team housing to all players in year one of the deal but scale back those benefits in later years to developmental players, rookies and minimum-salary players. The league has not moved its revenue-sharing percentage proposal in recent offers, even as other elements like the salary cap saw a small increase.

What makes this notable is that the dispute is now less about whether revenue sharing will exist and more about how it is structured—percentage, expense credits and the downstream effects on salaries and benefits. That shift has softened some players' public appetite for a strike, but it has not removed the risk that unresolved terms could delay the 2026 season if a term sheet is not reached by the March 10 target.

Breanna Stewart, who serves as a vice president of the union, echoed Plum’s caution against a strike and emphasized the progress on rev share while acknowledging that no offer on the table is yet ready for a vote. Meanwhile, external figures who had been expected to assist in talks have not been active in the negotiations, leaving the two sides to refine outstanding issues in the coming days.