Seventeen months. That’s how long the WNBA CBA negotiations have dragged on. For nearly two years, uncertainty has hovered over the league, with players and the league office locked in discussions about the future of the game. And while we still don’t know if an agreement will be reached or not, for the first time in almost two years, there is a slight sense of optimism that a deal might finally be on the horizon, even without any real update.

Ahead of the league-imposed March 10 deadline for a new CBA, the WNBA and the WNBPA sat down for an intense negotiating session at The Langham, a luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan, with discussions stretching for nearly 12 hours. Yes, you read that right!

As the marathon session finally came to an end, WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson briefly addressed the assembled media and delivered the update we had been waiting for. “I would describe the last 10, 11 hours as a lot of conversation going in the right direction,” Jackson said via ESPN’s Alexa Philippou on X, who was camped outside the hotel premises along with other reporters.

That said, Jackson wasn’t ready to promise a breakthrough just yet. When asked if a deal could come together in the next few days, she kept things measured: “You know, the only thing I’m going to say on that is conversations are continuing as they need to be.”

Now, for some, this might not exactly sound like good news, but it does signal that both sides are finally taking the process seriously enough to push toward getting a deal done.

As Front Office Sports reporter Annie Costabile noted on X, the meeting began at 5 p.m. ET, continued past the March 10 midnight deadline, and finally concluded around 5 a.m. ET. The players and the owners, however, were present for about ten hours and left by 3 a.m., with neither side offering any comment while negotiations were still ongoing.

At around 5 a.m, union staff were seen leaving the hotel, while WNBA leadership, led by Cathy Engelbert, stepped out roughly twenty minutes later. Unlike the others, Engelbert did offer a brief update.

“It’s complex. But we’re working towards a win-win deal like we’ve been saying, transformational deal for these players that balances all the things we’ve been trying to balance with continued investment by our owners, etc. So, we’re working hard towards that, and we still have work to do,” she said.

So clearly, with the March 10 deadline now gone, no new WNBA CBA deal has been reached yet. However, the latest developments suggest the finish line may finally be in sight, and a deal could still be finalized in the coming days despite both sides missing the deadline.

Will a WNBA CBA deal be reached anytime soon?

Negotiations are continuing today as well, with the meeting already running for over two hours and proposals being exchanged, according to Annie Costabile. While the exact details of those proposals remain unclear for now, we do know what the last known proposal looked like.

The gap between the two sides, however, remained fairly wide before the start of these marathon sessions. The WNBA’s last known proposal included a salary cap of $5.75 million along with a 70% share of net revenue. But according to sources familiar with the negotiations, that figure would amount to less than 15% of the league’s gross revenue.

According to the latest survey results shared by the union on its social media, 84% of players had already indicated they wouldn’t accept the deal. The union has therefore continued to push for a significantly larger share, with its last known proposal seeking 26% of the league’s gross revenue over the life of the agreement.

Now, you would imagine that some kind of breakthrough has been made in these marathon WNBA CBA negotiations. Because if not, it’s hard to see why both sides would keep negotiating at such a relentless pace. Everyone wants to play. No one wants a shutdown or missed games. The stakes are too high, and both parties understand the urgency.

Do you see a WNBA CBA deal being worked out anytime soon? Let us know in the comments below!