Las Vegas Aces News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

WNBA reaches CBA deal, Aces can plan for May 8 opener

Originally posted on Dice City Sports | By Mark Hebert | Last updated Mar 18, 2026 10:09 AM ET

The WNBA moved closer to a 2026 season without a work stoppage early Wednesday after the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association reached a late-night verbal agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Both sides still must finalize a formal term sheet, then players and the WNBA Board of Governors must ratify the deal. Even so, the breakthrough arrives with the calendar tightening around key league dates and May 8, when the regular season is scheduled to tip off.

For Las Vegas, the agreement carries extra weight. Aces leaders Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young have lived the uncertainty up close while on USA Basketball duty and they have not dodged the questions as talks dragged into March.

A deal in principle, but the timing is the headline

The agreement came 51 days before opening night, a meaningful marker with training camp and preseason dates close enough to feel urgent. It also shows the league and union found enough common ground to keep the season on track, even as lawyers move the deal toward the finish line.

The verbal agreement capped an intense final push at the bargaining table. Now the process shifts from negotiating rooms to legal language and votes.

The WNBA just went from a $1.5M salary cap to $6.2M. The Supermax jumped from $250K to $1.3M.

The 'Caitlin Clark Effect' is officially hitting the bank accounts. A new era has arrived. pic.twitter.com/NqxfnmVphh

— NBA Base (@TheNBABase) March 18, 2026

What the deal is expected to touch

Neither side has released full terms yet. Still, the agreement is expected to address major issues that drove the talks, including revenue sharing and team-provided housing.

The union has pushed for player pay and benefits to match the league’s growth. Early signals point to a deal built to raise compensation and upgrade year-round support, from housing resources to broader off-court standards.

What Aces voices said before the breakthrough

Gray and Young carried the Las Vegas angle into USA Basketball this week as the labor fight hovered over the upcoming season.

“We’re still in this fight to get what we deserve,” Gray said ahead of FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifying action. Young put it more directly: “I just want to feel valued.”

Those comments mattered in Las Vegas because the story stopped being a distant league-office issue. The Aces sit in the middle of the WNBA spotlight, and two core players tied themselves publicly to the league’s biggest business question.

The deadline pressure that built to Wednesday

Before the agreement, the league’s internal target for finishing a deal passed and marathon bargaining sessions still did not produce a resolution. Major issues stayed unresolved deep into March, including revenue sharing and housing, while the schedule tightened around critical offseason business.

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert warned the league needed a deal to avoid disruption to key dates. The expansion draft, free agency and the April 13 WNBA Draft all sit in the window, with training camps scheduled to open April 19 and the regular season set for May 8.

Players acknowledged the tension, but they framed it as part of the work. Young said hard conversations come with the process, adding that players are “all just fighting for what we think we deserve.” Gray pointed to a bigger picture, saying visibility and representation matter “on all levels, no matter what uniform we’re in.”

Why Las Vegas feels this one up close

For Aces fans, the takeaway stays simple. The league never announced a lockout. No one delayed the season. The schedule never moved.

Still, the uncertainty felt real in Las Vegas because Gray and Young stood in front of it. That is why Wednesday’s agreement in principle matters, even without full terms attached. It gives the clearest sign yet the 2026 season can start on time, letting teams like the Aces plan with more certainty as league business ramps up.

Now the league and union move through the final steps: finish the term sheet, complete legal review and run the ratification votes. Until that happens, the agreement is not official. However, the story has shifted from brinkmanship to paperwork.