{"id":402890,"date":"2026-01-11T16:31:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T16:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/402890\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T16:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T16:31:24","slug":"wnba-the-cba-stalemate-will-continue-past-january-9th-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/402890\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA: The CBA stalemate will continue past January 9th deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The WNBA and WNBPA will not agree to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by Friday, January 9, the expiration of the extended deadline. The league and players union also are not expected to agree to another, new extension.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">That\u2019s the news that Breanna Stewart, a WNBPA vice president, shared with media members from Unrivaled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">According to ESPN\u2019s Kendra Andrews, \u201cBreanna Stewart says that she has been told a new extension will not be agreed upon by tomorrow\u2019s CBA deadline, but the expectation is for the WNBA and Players\u2019 Association to continue to negotiate in good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Front Office Sports\u2019 Annie Costabile added that Stewart asserted, \u201cWe are not coming to an agreement, I can tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/alexaphilippou\/status\/2009371951349817725\" rel=\"nofollow\">As ESPN\u2019s Alexa Philippou explained<\/a>, the lack of another extension means the current CBA would officially expire, but that does not necessarily change the state of negotiations, as \u201cboth sides would enter a \u2018status quo\u2019 period in which the conditions of the current CBA would be maintained and the league and union could continue negotiating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The absence of agreement would open the possibility for a work stoppage. The league is not currently considering a lockout, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/alexaphilippou\/status\/2009374178055446629\" rel=\"nofollow\">according to Philippou<\/a>. A forthcoming strike by the players is also unlikely, as Stewart suggested that initiating a strike is \u201cnot something we\u2019re going to do right this second, but we have in our back pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Philippou further reported that, despite the current stalemate, sources around the league believe that a deal will, eventually, get done and that there will be a 2026 WNBA season. Summarizing sources\u2019 estimations on social media, Philippou wrote, \u201cToo much at stake if games are missed. But we may not see a new CBA for a little while longer. The possibility of a super condensed offseason is real.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">For now, however, frustrations remain, especially on the players\u2019 side. <a href=\"https:\/\/frontofficesports.com\/wnba-players-cba-deadline-friday\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">As Costabile reported<\/a>, \u201cThe union was still awaiting a response from the league to the proposal they submitted roughly two weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Napheesa Collier, Stewart\u2019s Unrivaled co-founder who also is a WNBPA vice president, expressed players\u2019 dissatisfaction with the league\u2019s process during an Unrivaled broadcast, stating:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">You\u2019ve heard a lot of chatter about what we\u2019re asking for is not sustainable for the business. Being on this side with Unrivaled, I know what it takes to run a sustainable business. If they can\u2019t find a model that makes it happen, they need to put people in place who can. We\u2019ve proven that it is possible. There is a way. We\u2019re thriving in that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">In anticipation of the expiration of the current CBA, the WNBPA has launched Player Hubs, according to Khristina Williams of NBC Sports and In Case You Missed It with Khristina Williams. This network will help players, not permitted to use WNBA resources, to access training sites at universities and other facilities <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Khristina\/status\/2009368866527277303\" rel=\"nofollow\">across the United States and Spain<\/a>, allowing players to use courts, weight rooms and recovery facilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The WNBA and WNBPA will not agree to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by Friday, January 9,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-402890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402890","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=402890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}