{"id":373319,"date":"2025-12-28T15:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T15:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/373319\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T15:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T15:41:09","slug":"wnba-owners-and-players-up-against-a-deadline-to-get-a-new-cba-finished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/373319\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA Owners And Players Up Against A Deadline To Get A New CBA Finished"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/sportstalkflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CLARK-WNBA.webp\" data-caption=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"464\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/sportstalkflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CLARK-WNBA-696x464.webp\"   alt=\"\" title=\"CLARK - WNBA\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>WNBA players could strike on January 9th.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>WNBA Labor Deadline Approaches<\/p>\n<p>The Women\u2019s National Basketball Association owners and players have until January 9th to finalize a new collective bargaining agreement. Talks stalled last October, and the sides initially aimed for a deal by November 30th, 2025. They agreed to extend the deadline again. While there is still time before the WNBA season starts, the league\u2019s business operations are on a clock.<\/p>\n<p>Portland and Toronto are set to be stocked via an expansion draft. The WNBA entry draft is scheduled for April 13th. If a lockout occurs, players would lose access to team facilities, practices, games, and communication with staff.<\/p>\n<p>Salary Dispute Drives Negotiations<\/p>\n<p>The primary sticking point is the salary structure. Players are pushing back against a salary cap. Owners, meanwhile, are trying to limit total spending. This tug-of-war is common in professional sports negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Two outside opportunities may also be influencing the players\u2019 stance. Several WNBA athletes have committed to play in Project B, a women\u2019s basketball startup league. Project B will run in Europe, Asia, and Latin America from November through April 2027. The league features six teams, each with 11 players, and follows a traditional 5-on-5 format.<\/p>\n<p>Project B plans to hold seven two-week tournaments in various locations across the continents. The league offers players an equity stake and higher compensation than what WNBA owners have proposed.<\/p>\n<p>Additional Options for Players<\/p>\n<p>There is also the Unrivaled League, now entering its second year on January 5th. The three-player-per-team league includes eight teams. Though smaller in scale, it provides another professional option for athletes seeking playing opportunities outside the WNBA.<\/p>\n<p>With multiple alternatives available, players have leverage in negotiations. Both the WNBA and its players want to avoid a lockout, but the stakes remain high. The league\u2019s expansion, draft schedule, and competitive international opportunities all add urgency to finalizing an agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Path Forward<\/p>\n<p>The coming weeks will be critical. WNBA owners and players must reach a compromise on salaries, benefits, and league structure. The decisions will affect expansion teams, current rosters, and international opportunities for players. A deal by January 9th would ensure the season proceeds without interruption, maintaining momentum for the league\u2019s growth and global presence.<\/p>\n<p>Evan Weiner\u2019s books are available at iTunes\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/author\/evan-weiner\/id595575191\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/author\/evan-weiner\/id595575191<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Evan can be reached at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sportstalkflorida.com\/wnba\/wnba-owners-and-players-up-against-a-deadline-to-get-a-new-cba-finished\/mailto:evan_weiner@hotmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">evan_weiner@hotmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764460269_964_WNBA-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-382587\"  \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WNBA players could strike on January 9th.\u00a0 WNBA Labor Deadline Approaches The Women\u2019s National Basketball Association owners and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,14748,121941,82,3302,4646,630],"class_list":["post-373319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-portland","tag-project-b","tag-sports","tag-toronto","tag-unrivaled","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373319","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=373319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}