It\u2019s unlikely that the WNBA will have a new collective bargaining agreement in place before the deal expires Friday.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean a lockout is imminent. The WNBA and the Women\u2019s National Basketball Players Association have ratified new CBAs with the help of an extension before.<\/p>\n
The league has requested a 30-day extension to continue talks beyond Friday, according to multiple reports. But a contentious standoff may be on the way given the tone of some public comments from players.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a battle,\u201d said Aces guard Chelsea Gray, the team\u2019s WNBPA representative, on Oct. 14. \u201cThere\u2019s no league without players. There\u2019s nothing you can do without the players, to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two extensions were needed to complete the current CBA, which was agreed to Jan. 14, 2020.<\/p>\n
The CBA was set to run through 2027, but the players decided to opt out Oct. 21, 2024.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m not confident\u2019<\/p>\n
The WNBA has never had a work stoppage because of a labor dispute. There is plenty of time before the start of the regular season in May to strike a deal, but a resolution doesn\u2019t appear imminent.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, I\u2019m not confident,\u201d said WNBPA legal counsel Erin Drake on the \u201cGood Game with Sarah Spain\u201d podcast on Oct. 16. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a year (to negotiate) and it hasn\u2019t gotten done. \u2026 The fight doesn\u2019t end after Oct. 31.\u201d<\/p>\n
Players have been vocal about their displeasure with the state of the league.<\/p>\n
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, a WNBPA vice president, criticized commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a news conference Sept. 30<\/a> for her stance on issues like officiating and how young players are being paid.<\/p>\n Collier claimed Engelbert told her in a meeting that Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, \u201cshould be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn\u2019t make anything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd in that same conversation, (Engelbert) told me, \u2018Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them,\u2019\u201d Collier said.<\/p>\n Engelbert, in a news conference at Michelob Ultra Arena<\/a> prior to the start of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 3, responded by saying, \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of inaccuracy out there.\u201d<\/p>\n All-time high<\/p>\n The standoff comes as the WNBA\u2019s popularity continues to grow. ESPN said the 25 regular-season games it aired this year had an average of 1.3 million viewers, up 6 percent from 2024.<\/p>\n Some of that increase is due to an influx of exciting young players. Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in 2024 out of Iowa, is one. So are Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers.<\/p>\n The players want to see the WNBA\u2019s growth reflected in the next CBA.<\/p>\n The league\u2019s salary cap was $1.507 million in 2025. Minimum salaries started at $66,079 and the supermax was $249,244.<\/p>\n Aces forward A\u2019ja Wilson, a four-time WNBA MVP and two-time Finals MVP, made $200,000 this year.<\/p>\n More money, more problems<\/p>\n The league is adding two expansion teams, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, for the 2026 season. The WNBA will expand to 18 teams by 2030 with Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030) joining the fray.<\/p>\n The league secured an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon and NBC in July 2024 that\u2019s valued at $2.2 billion.<\/p>\n \u201cFor players, we want what we\u2019ve been talking about for many years,\u201d Aces guard Jewell Loyd said Oct. 14. \u201cWe\u2019ve done everything we\u2019ve been asked to do as players, give them a great high-quality product on the court every single night. \u2026 Now it\u2019s time to reap the benefits of that \u2014 not just us, but everybody ahead of us and before us.<\/p>\n \u201cThe momentum of the league right now is so high, and it\u2019ll be unfortunate if there is a lockout, but at the same time, we want to fight for what we need and that\u2019s the most important thing. \u2026 Hopefully things start to change.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com<\/a>. Follow @DannyWebster21<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s unlikely that the WNBA will have a new collective bargaining agreement in place before the deal expires…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":{"0":"post-251042","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}