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Afternoon Edition

January 30, 2026

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After weeks of little to no movement, WNBA players and owners are set for a bargaining session in New York City on Monday. It could determine whether the season will start on time.

— Annie Costabile [[link removed]] and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

WNBA Players, Owners Set for High-Stakes Meeting As CBA Talks Stall [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA — The WNBA and the players’ union will meet in person in New York City on Monday for the first time since the fall amid stalled CBA negotiations.

Talking to reporters at Unrivaled, Kelsey Plum said she and fellow union VP Napheesa Collier will travel to New York after their teams play each other in Miami on Sunday night. WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike will be in attendance as well, along with the league’s CBA leadership, labor relations committee, and league and union staff, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting told Front Office Sports.

The meeting will also include team owners, but the source declined to say whether all would attend.

“I feel extremely excited for the opportunity to be there in person,” Plum said. “Obviously with other players that are really invested in this in the executive committee. Then of course, the league making a commitment to be there. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing. We’re meeting together and hopefully we’ll have something.”

The WNBPA sent a proposal at the end of December that the league failed to respond to [[link removed]] for more than four weeks. The league didn’t believe the contents of the union’s proposal warranted a response, according to a source familiar with the league’s thinking.

In the last month communication has been exchanged, but there have been no full bargaining sessions between the two sides.

The proposal submitted by the union in late December presented a $10.5 million salary cap and a 30% share of total league revenue. The WNBA’s last proposal includes a revenue-sharing model that equates to about 15% of total league revenue and a max base salary of $1 million, up from $249,244 in 2025.

The average salary under the union’s proposal would amount to more than $800,000, while the league’s proposed average salary would be more than $530,000 after revenue-sharing is factored in. A source familiar with the league’s thinking believes the WNBA has made significant movement regarding the union’s compensation requests, salary, and revenue-sharing. Additionally, the league’s reluctance to engage with the union’s last proposal is tied to its belief that it would amount to significant losses.

“We will not fucking move until y’all move,” New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud told reporters in Philadelphia on Friday. “It would be the worst business decision of any business to not literally pay the player that make your business go. Without us, there is no W season. So, the pressure is on the WNBA, on Cathy [Engelbert], on Adam [Silver], on everyone that is in that front office.”

Cloud’s candor didn’t stop there. She said she was “disgusted” with the league’s handling of negotiations, including what she believes has been a “failure to even move the needle with us.”

Negotiations are currently in a period of status quo after the Jan. 9 CBA deadline—the second extension since the CBA originally expired Oct. 31—came and went with no deal and no agreement to a new extension. Earlier this month, both sides agreed to a moratorium [[link removed]], which stopped free agency.

The season is scheduled to tip off May 8, but sources have become skeptical about that being a reality as negotiations push into February. The outcome of Monday’s meeting will indicate whether the start to the WNBA’s 30th season is in jeopardy.

“We’ll learn a lot from this meeting,” Plum said. “Everyone understands what’s at stake, timeline-wise.”

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Join Us Next Week

Three-time Olympic medalist and League One Volleyball (LOVB) athlete Kelsey Cook is joining the conversation [[link removed]] next Saturday.

Other speakers include Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end and Walter Payton Man of the Year Arik Armstead; Leslie Osborne, owner of Bay FC and LOVB San Francisco, and former USWNT athlete; Dr. Harsh K. Trivedi, president and CEO of Sheppard Pratt; and Dr. Amber Cargill, director of player wellness at the NFLPA.

Just one day before the Big Game—Future of Sports: The Mental Edge, presented by Sheppard Pratt [[link removed]], will convene leaders from across sports, media, and mental health for brunch and thought leadership programming, designed to explore the evolving dynamics of mental health in professional sports, the growing role of corporate and philanthropic leadership, and how high-profile moments are enhancing mental health conversations on and off the field.

Request to attend [[link removed]].

Comcast Leaning on Sports to Stop Subscriber Bleeding [[link removed]]

Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

As Comcast continues to bleed cable subscribers, the NBC Sports parent company is ramping up its efforts to supplement a historic confluence of sports content in February.

Comcast has developed a series of technological enhancements for Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 and the Feb. 6–22 Winter Olympics for its 11.27 million video subscribers. That U.S. customer total, though down by 10% in the last year, still has Comcast as the No. 2 U.S. cable company behind Spectrum.

Leaning In to Sports

The efforts are the latest moves by Comcast to take advantage of what it and NBC Sports are calling “Legendary February” [[link removed]] between its coverage of the Super Bowl, Olympics, and then later, the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 15. A key part of the latest initiative is to slow the ongoing decline of cable subscribers.

Comcast is also leaning heavily in to the sports fandom of its cable customers. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, which generated a historic lift in the overall audience [[link removed]], the company’s cable subscribers beat national viewership percentages by 78%.

“This is a big retention play for us,” Comcast VP of sports entertainment, connectivity, and platforms Vito Forlenza tells Front Office Sports. “We know the majority of our customers are sports fans, and we are making our case that this is the best way to watch.”

Among the specific plans:

Comcast will offer a low-latency 4K resolution feed of the Super Bowl that it’s calling RealTime4K. The improved picture and sound of the enhanced feed is described as up to 30 seconds faster than other 4K providers. Whether it be normal high-definition television, streaming, or 4K efforts such as this one, lag time is a common complaint from fans. RealTime4K will then be deployed for portions of the Winter Olympics.

Sport-specific selection of individual Winter Olympics events, building on what Comcast and NBC did during the Paris Olympics in 2024. This option is designed to make it easier to navigate across Olympic coverage that will span NBC, Peacock, USA Network, and CNBC.

A related feature called Fan View will allow users to choose the Olympic sports they are most interested in.

A multiview feature, previously developed for its NFL, NBA, and Premier League programming, will allow users to select up to four feeds to watch simultaneously, Notably, the offering will allow for a combination of Olympic broadcasts and live sports that might be on other networks, and greater user choice overall.

A new highlights feature will use artificial intelligence to create a curated list of short-form videos from the Olympics, creating a way to catch up on the competition from Italy that resembles a social media platform.

On Thursday, Comcast delivered a mixed earnings report [[link removed]] that included the declines in video and broadcast subscribers, as well as a drop in net income, but a sharp boost in wireless customers. The company also lauded its live sports portfolio as “one of our most durable strengths.”

Comcast’s Peacock streaming service, also a key corporate focus [[link removed]] during the big sports month, will have some of the extra enhancements, too, including the multiview function.

Status Report Three Up, One Down

Mike Frey-Imagn Images

Novak Djokovic ⬆ The 24-time major champion advanced to the Australian Open final after defeating Jannik Sinner in a thrilling five-set match. The 38-year-old was trailing after three sets but rallied back to reach his first major final since 2024. He will face off against world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday for a chance at his 11th Australian Open title.

CM Punk ⬆ The wrestler was announced as the cover star for the WWE 2K26 video game Friday. Punk previously appeared on the cover of WWE ’13, the final game released before 2K bought the rights to the franchise. Punk returned to WWE in 2023, almost a decade after leaving the promotion, and he is the current world heavyweight champion.

Eagles ⬆ Philadelphia finally has an offensive coordinator, hiring Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion. The Eagles were tied to a number of coaches (including Brian Daboll, Mike McDaniel, and Matt Nagy), but they decided on Mannion, who has coached for only two seasons in the NFL. Nick Sirianni has had three straight one-and-done OCs.

Bears ⬇ Chicago will not receive compensatory draft picks for Ian Cunningham leaving to accept the Falcons’ GM position. The NFL CBA says that a team will receive two third-round compensatory picks when a minority assistant is hired as another team’s “head coach or primary football executive.” Matt Ryan was hired as Atlanta’s president of football and is considered the Falcons’ “primary football executive,” resulting in the Bears receiving no compensation for Cunningham.

Editors’ Picks Court Deals Major Blow to Retired Players in Disability Suit Against NFL [[link removed]]by Daniel Kaplan [[link removed]]A federal judge denied the retired NFL players a class certification. WNBA Union Leader Says CBA Talks Not ‘Constructive’ [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]The sides have not met for a full bargaining session this year. New UFL Investor Mike Repole Still Believes in Spring Football [[link removed]]by Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]Repole thinks recognizable coaches will draw NFL fans. Daily Trivia Factle Sports

Can you rank the top five MLB managers by most wins all-time?

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Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Games [[link removed]] Show [[link removed]] Shop [[link removed]] Written by Annie Costabile [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]] Edited by Dennis Young [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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