Caitlin Clark is putting the WNBA and the players’ union on the clock. “That’s what our fans crave—the product on the floor,” Clark said after the first day of USA Basketball training camp in December. “So, it’s business, and it’s a negotiation, and there has to be compromise on both sides. And we’re starting to get down to the wire of it.” She wants the 2026 WNBA season to go about without any delay. With time running out before the deadline, Clark sent another message ahead of the 2026 USA Qualifiers.

“I don’t understand why we don’t just get in a room and iron it out and shake hands,” Clark said via Front Office Sports. “That’s how business is. You look each other in the eye, you shake hands, and you respect both sides. For me, that’s what I would love to see. Obviously, I understand everybody has different schedules. Everybody is in a million places in the world, but we’re really down to less than a week. We need to get face-to-face and we need to make some decisions and find out what really needs to happen to get it done.”

Both sides have been in a heated negotiation for around 18 months. And yet, they remain poles apart on the central matter: the revenue share. According to reports, the WNBA gave the WNBPA March 10 as the final date so that the 2026 season would go without a hitch. Naturally, Clark is itching to return after an injury-riddled 2025 season. And the scenario proposed by Clark is exactly what Breanna Stewart, the Vice President of the WNBPA, wants to happen as well.

“I think that would be great for us all to sit in a room until we really get it done,” Stewart said. “If that means sitting in there for hours and hours at a time, let’s do it. That’s for the better of the player. While a situation like that has never happened before, there’s a first time for everything.”

They might have to do just that. We are talking about hours left to the deadline. According to ESPN, the WNBA sent its counterproposal on March 8. However, it’s still unknown whether the league has agreed to budge on their revenue-sharing demand. In the past couple of proposals, they have remained firm on their 70% of net revenue or less than 15% of gross revenue. 

The WNBPA, on the other hand, is ready to accept an average of 26% of the gross revenue, according to its last proposal. “We want the deal to be done; we want to have the season,” Stewart said. “We just need to find the right numbers that reflect it.” This sentiment has been brewing among some fans for a long time. Now that two of the most important parties in this situation are saying it publicly, it just might change the narrative for the wider audience. 

Breanna Stewart and Caitlin Clark’s Push for a Deal May Bring Balance to the Narrative

The fans have largely supported the players in their fight for better pay. Rightly so, there have been various historical comparisons to the NBA and economic calculations on their deserved salaries. However, the narrative has slipped into a players-versus-the-league. There are some sound arguments that the leadership has failed to keep up its side. For example, turning up to their February meeting without a proposal or taking weeks to respond.

However, many seem to have forgotten that the goal is to have a booming 2026 WNBA season that continues the path the league is set on. “Hopefully, when you’ve got Caitlin Clark saying that and you’ve got Breanna Stewart saying that, people take heed and take notice on both sides of the situation,” Robin Lundeberg of SI said. “It is the time. Whether you’ve sent the Google invite or not, do it now.”

We need a conclusion. Fans need to gauge the league’s side of things as well, like the very real operating costs and revenue streams. This year was the first time the league earned enough money to trigger the revenue-sharing clause in the previous CBA.

Whether the March 10 deadline was firm or the league left a little room, the situation is heading into dangerous territory. A strike would only complicate the situation and both sides know that. But the players have more than indicated that they are ready in case the league does not bend.