With over a year at the table, the WNBA and the WNBPA are nowhere close to seeing eye-to-eye on a new CBA. The negotiations were supposed to bring movement, clarity, and momentum. Instead, it has delivered more uncertainty, and fans are already running out of patience, especially after the latest update.

According to reports, the league and the players’ union have agreed to a moratorium that freezes all free-agency activity while negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement continue. This pause halts qualifying offers, core designations, signings, and all other league business until they both find a common ground.

This move comes after the January 9 deadline passed without a new deal, an extension, or a work stoppage, pushing both sides into a “status quo” period under the terms of the expired CBA.

While free agency technically began this Sunday, and the league’s front office asked the teams to prepare to extend qualifying offers and core designations under the expired agreement, players were unlikely to sign offers under the old rules with a new pay structure still being negotiated. Which ended up just creating more confusion among fans.

According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, both sides agreed that pausing league business was necessary, rather than risking meaningless transactions. So, the moratorium offers a temporary solution while the talks continue.

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However, while neither side is signaling an imminent strike or lockout, the moratorium only shines a light on how fragile the situation remains. The WNBPA has already authorized a strike vote, and although league officials have downplayed the likelihood of a lockout, both options remain on the table during this period.

Now, with all the league activities fully on ice, fans have turned their attention to the handling of the process, and the reaction has been anything but forgiving.

Fans call out a pause without progress

Within hours of the news breaking, fans took to social media to voice their frustrations as talks between the two entities continue.

“A nothing burger update,” one fan wrote. While another added, “So it means nothing lol.”

The moratorium doesn’t materially change the current landscape. Free agency was already deemed to be stalled, with more than 100 players becoming free agents this offseason, which is roughly 70% of the league’s players. So it was widely expected that players would be hesitant to sign deals under an expiring CBA that could soon deliver higher salaries and a revamped pay structure.

Meaning this pause merely formalizes that standstill, offering a process without any progress.

Furthermore, another fan took to the comments section of a post about the update and added, “The first 8 words of this tweet had me thinking we were going somewhere else.”

Whereas, one fan wrote, “They should just sign the latest offer & call it day because there’s a possibly they will not accomplish anything meaningful in the new CBA.”

Under the league’s latest proposal, salaries would significantly increase the maximum base to $1 million in 2026, with the potential to reach $1.3 million through revenue sharing. Average and minimum salaries would also see a sharp jump, with the average topping $530,000 and the minimum rising to around $250,000.

Young stars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers, who are still on their rookie deals, would see their pay nearly double under the new structure.

However, that’s where the disagreement lies. The league’s offer gives players more than 70% of net revenue – money divided after expenses like travel, facilities, and medical care are covered. But the union is pushing for roughly 30% of gross revenue, meaning players would be paid from total earnings before expenses, along with a higher team salary cap.

That difference in how revenue is calculated is a major reason both sides remain far apart from reaching a deal, with the league warning it would lead to roughly $700 million in losses over the life of the deal.

One fan summed this whole situation the best, as they simply wrote, “Yeah this is bad.”

With no movement on free agency and no clarity on a new deal, fans see the moratorium as more delay than direction. And unless real progress follows soon, the frustration surrounding the WNBA’s CBA talks is only set to grow.