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What happens in the WNBA offseason after the new labor deal, expansion and the Sun move?

By McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM · Certified WNBA player agent · Former certified NBA agent

Published October 26, 2026. Last updated October 26, 2026.

This WNBA offseason is the first one run entirely under a new collective bargaining agreement, and it arrives with the 2026 Finals still in progress at the time of writing. This guide covers what is already fixed: the labor deal, the offseason calendar, the expansion schedule and the Sun move. It stops at October 24, 2026 and reports no Finals result.

The material is information, not legal or financial advice. Contract mechanics are in the WNBA salaries guide and the WNBA rookie contract guide.

What is the labor deal that governs this WNBA offseason?

The WNBA Board of Governors unanimously ratified a seven-year agreement on March 24, 2026, a day after players approved it, and it runs through 2032, per Yardbarker. The salary cap is $7 million in 2026, up from $1.5 million in 2025, per the same report. The maximum is $1.4 million, the supermax, which is 20 percent of the cap and applies to veterans with five or more years of service and to core players, and it is $1.19 million for everyone else, per Article V, Section 8 and Swish Appeal. The minimum runs from $270,000 to $300,000 by service time.

The players’ share is described as 20 percent of revenue, per Swish Appeal. The CBA defines it as the Designated 20% Share of Shared Basketball Revenue, per Article XII, Section 1. The operative text is the 2026 WNBA-WNBPA agreement, which this guide cites by article and section.

What changes for the 2027 season and the 2027 salary cap?

The CBA allows up to 50 regular season games per team in 2027 and 2028 and up to 52 from 2029 through 2032, per Article XXXIII, and Yardbarker reports the schedule growing to those numbers. Starting in 2027, the date that triggers a no-report suspension for a contracted player moves from May 1 to April 15, or the start of the season if later, per Article XIV, Section 9(a). The league is also exploring a game abroad, covered in the overseas games post.

The cap after 2026 is set by formula: the Designated 20% Share of Shared Basketball Revenue, less Salary Cap Benefits and adjustments, divided by the number of teams, per Article VII, Section 1(a) and Article XII, Section 1. The 2027 result cannot move more than 13 percent from $7,000,000, and later years cannot move more than 10 percent, per Section 1(a)(ii). By that arithmetic the 2027 cap lands between $6,090,000 and $7,910,000. The formula divides by the number of teams in the season, so the per-team figure depends on revenue growing as the league does. No new team joins before Cleveland in 2028, so the 2027 cap is divided among the same teams as 2026. That is the author’s reading of the formula, not a league projection.

What is the WNBA free agency calendar for 2027?

Four dates matter, all from the CBA. A team may give a core designation from January 30 through February 3, per Article VI, Section 7(c). Free agents and teams may begin negotiating on February 4, per Section 1(a). The moratorium for the 2026 season ends February 15, 2027, per Article V, Section 17. Players can sign beginning February 16.

The moratorium starts at each team's last regular season game, so it is already running for eliminated teams. During it, a player and team cannot negotiate until February 4. From February 4 through February 15 they may negotiate but not sign a new contract, with exceptions for accepting an outstanding qualifying offer and for certain amendments, per Section 17. A team may withdraw a core qualifying offer through March 1. After that it must stay open through March 21 unless the player agrees in writing to withdrawal, per Article VI, Section 7(e).

An unrestricted free agent can talk to any team from February 4 and sign from February 16, per Article VI, Section 1(a)(ii). A cored player can deal only with her prior team, per Section 7(c).

Who is reserved, restricted, unrestricted or core?

The category depends on years of service on the first day of the salary cap year and on what the team does by February 3. A veteran with three or fewer years is reserved if her team makes a reserved qualifying offer at the minimum salary, and unrestricted if it does not. A veteran with four years is restricted if her team makes a restricted qualifying offer, and unrestricted if it does not. Five or more years means unrestricted, per Article VI, Sections 5, 8 and 9. The core designation guide walks through each category.

Each team may designate one player who would otherwise be unrestricted or restricted as core, and beginning with the 2027 season only a player with six or fewer years of service can be designated, per Article VI, Section 7(a) and (b). The offer is a one-year, fully protected deal at the supermax, which is 20 percent of the cap.

How does WNBA expansion change the market?

Portland and Toronto joined for 2026 through the expansion draft covered in the expansion draft guide. Three more clubs follow: Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030, each paying a $250 million fee, which brings the league to 18 teams by 2030, per NBC Sports Bay Area.

Each new team means another draft of unprotected players and more roster spots for veterans on the bubble. It also raises the value of franchises already in place, a trend visible in the Valkyries valuation story.

Where do the Connecticut Sun play in 2027?

In Houston. The WNBA and NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Sun by the Mohegan Tribe to Tilman J. Fertitta on May 13, 2026, and the team relocates to Houston beginning with the 2027 season, per the WNBA announcement. The release does not name the Houston arena.

What should players and agents do before January 30?

The author tells clients to work from the calendar, not the news cycle. Confirm each client's years of service now, because that number decides whether she can be cored, restricted or unrestricted. Then map which teams hold cap room for a February 16 signing, and plan the weeks before January 30 around the January 30 to February 3 window, when a team can use a core designation or a qualifying offer to limit a client’s market.

New agents should know that these windows reward preparation more than speed. The certification route is in the WNBA agent certification guide, and the first client conversation is easier when the dates above are already on a calendar.