A New WNBA CBA Agreement has been reached!

On March 18th, a few hours past midnight, the Women’s National Basketball Association (“WNBA”) and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (“WNBPA”) reached a tentative agreement on the new collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”). The WNBA and the WNBPA have been negotiating on a new CBA for countless months, but in the week leading up to the agreement, both sides have been intensely negotiating almost non-stop in New York at the Langham Hotel. The negotiations had been ongoing for so long that reporters, such as ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou, were present near the hotel every day in the early morning hours to report on the progress of the talks.

The proposed CBA has now been ratified by the WNBA’s board of governors and unanimously approved by the players, so now we wait for the season to start on May 8th. While all the details of the CBA are not known to the public yet, here are some publicized key details that Toronto Tempo fans need to know:

Toronto’s Expansion Draft!

With a new CBA comes the official WNBA expansion draft for the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo, set for April 3rd at 3:30 PM ET.

What’s an expansion draft?

Expansion drafts happen so that new teams can quickly assemble a roster in time for the new season. Here’s a very simplified explanation: New expansion team(s) (in this case, Portland and Toronto) pick among WNBA players that are left “unprotected” by their current WNBA teams, with each expansion team picking six players.

What’s an unprotected player?

Sorry, I should explain what that is! Each current WNBA team has to submit a list of five (5) protected players, meaning those 5 players on the team cannot be chosen by the new expansion teams. The remaining players on each WNBA team NOT on the protected list are deemed “unprotected”, unless they are an unrestricted free agent.

But wait! There’s more!

Toronto and Portland can each select one player who is a potential unrestricted free agent. If Toronto and Portland do select such a player, they are permitted to negotiate a supermax contract with those players (a supermax contract meaning a contract where a player can earn the most amount of money annually per the CBA).

To determine which expansion team picks first in the expansion draft, the WNBA performed a coin toss, which the Toronto Tempo won. Toronto decided to pick second in the expansion draft, in exchange for being able to pick sixth in the WNBA draft on April 13th. As a result, Portland is picking first in the expansion draft and picking seventh in the WNBA draft.

New Salary Numbers!!

There has been a significant improvement on the salary side of the new CBA. 

Average Salary

The average player salary is now expected to be around $600,000. In 2025, the average player salary was 5 times smaller, being $120,000. 

Minimum Salary

The minimum player salary in 2026 is expected to be higher than $300,000, representing a significant increase from the 2025 minimum salary of $66,079. Here’s how important that minimum salary jump is: In 2025, the maximum possible player salary was $249,244. The future minimum salary is higher than the current maximum salary, a testament to the league’s significant growth over the past few years. 

Maximum Salary

The maximum player salary in 2026 is expected to be $1.4 million, which is almost six times larger than the 2025 maximum salary of $249,244. This represents tremendous growth for the WNBA’s top-tier players. This will allow future top-tier players to earn much more over the course of their careers compared to their predecessors.

Salary Cap

The WNBA salary cap, the amount of money a team can spend on player salaries per year, is understandably receiving a large raise following the significant salary increases. For 2026, the salary cap is expected to be around $7 million, which is almost five times larger than the 2025 salary cap of $1.507 million. Teams can afford to pay players a lot more, making it a win regardless of whether the player is earning the maximum salary or earning the minimum salary, given that both are sizable increases from their pre-2026 standards.

Free Agency Chaos!!!

This topic can have its own post because of how hectic this free agency period will be. In anticipation of a rise in salaries, many WNBA players structured their contracts in a way so that they are free agents in 2026. This free agency period will feature over 100 players as free agents, with many elite players among them. While it’s likely that many of these elite players are looking to sign a new contract with the teams they have been playing for in 2025, there are opportunities for other teams to swoop in and sign these elite players during this massive free agency period.

Even more new stuff!!!!

Here are even more notable terms that come with the new CBA:

• Codified charter air travel for all WNBA teams.

• Pregnant players can only be traded with their consent.

• Significant increases to player 401(k) retirement accounts.

• More mental health coverage, which includes a specific mental health reimbursement benefit.

• Expanded family planning benefits for players and their spouses/partners.

What to expect for the Tempo going forward

The expansion draft will be extremely important for not just Toronto but all of Canada. It is not everyday that an expansion team is from Canada, so moments like this expansion draft are extremely rare. The expansion draft will also set the tone for how the Tempo plays this season. Just because the expansion draft involves unprotected players, does not mean that these players are bad. Many teams, especially winning teams, likely wish that they could protect more than 5 players, meaning that both Portland and Toronto are bound to pick some amazing players for their roster. These players will also have WNBA experience, so even though this is the first season for the Toronto Tempo, it is not the first season for some of its players.

Can the Tempo make the playoffs? It is extremely difficult for an expansion team to make the playoffs in their first season, but the Golden State Valkyries became the first team to do so last year, so only time will tell.