Beyond the Game: Tracking 2026’s Pro Sports Labor Agreements

Takeaways

• WNBA is in the midst of immediate labor risk, with an expired CBA, impasse after labor agreement extensions lapsed and a potential work stoppage looming ahead of the scheduled May start to the 2026 season.
• MLB and MLS are entering sensitive transition periods, with MLB owners and players bracing for negotiations ahead of the contract expiration in December, and MLS continuing to negotiate details around its approved calendar shift.
• Other major leagues remain relatively stable, with long‑term labor agreements in place for the NFL, NBA, NHL and NLL — future issues are already emerging.

Related links

• Major League Baseball Owners Use “Only Tool Available” to Lockout Players
• MLS to Align Calendar with Top Leagues Around the World (press release)

Article

As the sports calendar shifts from the end of the NFL season to the start of MLB Spring Training, professional sports labor negotiations offer a timely lens on how collective bargaining works in that arena under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Although highly visible, these negotiations follow the same good‑faith bargaining rules as any workplace — setting the stage for key labor issues in 2026 that offer potential insights for all employers.

Briefly, under the NLRA, both unions and management must bargain collectively and in good faith over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment (known as “mandatory subjects”), but neither side is compelled to agree to any proposal or make concessions.

Good-faith bargaining prohibits surface negotiations, bad-faith tactics, and unilateral changes to mandatory subjects before reaching impasse. Additional options become likely after a bargaining impasse is declared, including strikes, lockouts, and unilateral implementation of final offers on mandatory subjects.

This article discusses the current state of labor agreements across the major and emerging professional sports and anticipated issues in 2026.

In the Eye of the Storm

Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)

In October 2024, the WNBA Players Association voted to opt out of its 2020 collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The agreement expired in October 2025. The WNBA, led by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, has been negotiating with the Players Association, led by President Nneka Ogwumike, with agreements to short-term extensions lapsing Jan. 9, 2026. With no further extension, the WNBA is operating under a status quo period.

On Feb. 9, 2026, the WNBA provided a counteroffer to the Players Association’s last proposal, submitted in December. The Players Association seeks improvements in compensation, working conditions and benefits, and growth commensurate with WNBA growth over the term of the agreement. Although the WNBA’s counteroffer addresses some demands, the parties remain at odds over revenue sharing. The Players Association demands a share of about 30 percent of the WNBA’s gross revenue; the WNBA has offered roughly 70 percent of net revenue.

The 2026 WNBA season is scheduled to begin May 8. With little progress in the parties’ positions, a work stoppage is increasingly likely, either by a lockout or strike. This would be the WNBA’s first work stoppage since its founding in 1997; until now, five different CBAs were reached without incident.

National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)

In July 2024, the NWSL and NWSL Players Association announced what one observer called the “most … pro-labor CBA[] in professional sports.” Led by Commissioner Jessica Bermand for the NWSL and Tori Huster for the Players Association, the League granted players immediate free agency, guaranteed contracts, no-trade rights, revenue sharing, and salary and health benefit increases.

Despite the seeming labor peace, the Players Association has filed two grievances over the League’s handling of player Trinity Rodman’s contract with the Washington Spirit. In December 2025, the Players Association challenged NWSL’s veto of a back-loaded contract reached between Rodman and the Spirit. The NWSL viewed the agreement as violating competition rules and constituted salary-cap circumvention. The Players Association disagreed, believing the agreement permissible under the CBA.

On Jan. 14, 2026, with a resolution to the first grievance outstanding, the Players Association filed a second grievance over NWSL’s creation of the high impact player (HIP) rule, which allows a team to pay certain players up to $1 million above the salary cap. On Jan. 22, the Spirit announced a new three-year contract with Rodman, reportedly worth $2 million a year. The 2025 League salary cap was $3.5 million.

Storm Clouds Brewing

Major League Baseball (MLB)

MLB’s current CBA expires at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 1, 2026. The agreement was ratified in March 2022, ending a 99-day lockout. Commissioner Rob Manfred has raised the anticipated key point of contention — agreement to a salary cap — with players during his visits to clubhouses during the 2025 season. One of these meetings led to the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper not-so-politely instructing Manfred to leave the clubhouse.

The MLB Players Association is strongly opposed to a salary cap. MLB owners, led by Manfred and Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem, have sought a salary cap for years. Further uncertainty was added to this labor issue as the Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark suddenly resigned as Spring Training began, leaving the Players Association without a clear leader.

MLB’s unilateral implementation of a salary cap during the 1994 strike led to then-District Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor issuing an injunction against the League, blocking the MLB from proceeding with a cap and using replacement players to begin the 1995 season.

The CBA’s looming December expiration is unlikely to impact games during the 2026 season. However, MLB owners immediately instituted a lock-out upon the expiration of the last CBA. Absent an agreement before December, MLB can be expected to use the same tools to bring urgency to this round of negotiations.

Thunder in the Distance

National Football League (NFL)

In March 2020, the NFL narrowly ratified its current CBA, set to run to March 2031. The CBA expanded the regular season and playoffs and increased player revenue sharing, rosters, and health and safety benefits.

Despite the appearance of security, the NFL, through Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the NFL Players Association, currently led by Interim Executive Director David White, have reportedly begun informal discussions to expand the regular season further and increase international games.

Another wrinkle is the looming expiration of the NFL’s agreement with the NFL Referees Association, set to expire at the end of May 2026. The NFL is negotiating a new agreement with the Referees Association and its executive director, Scott Green.

National Basketball Association (NBA)

In 2023, the NBA ratified the current CBA, which runs through the 2029-30 season. Both the NBA, led by Commissioner Adam Silver, and the NBA Players Association, led by newly elected Executive Director David Kelly, have an option to opt-out after the 2028-29 season.

With labor peace secured through at least early 2029, the CBA implemented new hard penalties for the NBA’s salary cap provisions (“aprons”) and could lead to disagreement over its impact on team spending. Additionally, competitive balance issues and the computation of Basketball Related Income (which determines the annual salary cap) are recurring issues in the labor negotiations. Disputes over these issues have led to four lockouts in the past, including three between 1995 and 1999.

Major League Soccer (MLS)

In 2020, MLS reached a new CBA with the MLS Players Association. MLS invoked the force majeure clause of the CBA and threatened a lockout to reopen negotiations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The renegotiated agreement runs through the 2027 season and delayed player salary escalations but secured full player compensation for the 2021 season and prevented the MLS from further exercising the force majeure clause for 10 months. The extension resulted in an agreement through the 2026 World Cup in North America.

In November 2025, MLS approved shifting its competition calendar from a spring-fall format to a summer-spring format more in line with international leagues. The decision was made after consultation with the Players Association, but details of a final transition plan are still being negotiated. The planned shift will lead to the 2027-28 season beginning in July 2027 and running to May 2028 with the current CBA scheduled to expire in January 2028 during a projected midwinter break.

Weathered the Storm

National Hockey League (NHL)

In July 2025, the NHL and NHL Players Association agreed on a new CBA to begin Sept. 16, 2026, upon expiration of the current CBA, and running through Sept. 15, 2030. The new CBA, agreed to by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players Association Executive Director Marty Walsh, expands the regular season, decreases the maximum contract length (while limiting front-loaded contracts and eliminating deferred salaries), and eliminates the NHL dress code with commitments to permit player participation in the 2030 Winter Olympics.

National Lacrosse League (NLL)

On Oct. 20, 2025, the NLL avoided a work stoppage by coming to terms on a new CBA to run through the 2029-30 season for the professional box (indoor) lacrosse league. The NLL, led by Commissioner Brett Frood, and the NLL Players Association, led by Vice President and Executive Director Reid Reinholdt, agreed to terms implementing a graduated salary cap and floor, expanding player benefits outside the salary cap, and providing earlier free agency.

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The Jackson Lewis Entertainment and Media Group will continue to monitor professional labor issues and developments. Please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney if you have questions about labor issues and the professional sports landscape.