Here’s what will happen if the WNBA doesn’t approve a new CBA originally appeared on Sports news. Add The Sporting News as Favorite source by clicking here.
The WNBA and WNBPA are running out of time.
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On October 30, the league and players’ union agreed to a 30-day extension of the current collective bargaining agreement, in anticipation of a handshake on a historic new deal by the end of November.
Last week, the WNBA made an offer to the WNBPA that promised a $1.1 million supermax salary for qualified players.
The $1 million salary is what garnered national attention, but the union found the CBA’s offer overall unsatisfactory.
Indeed, the WNBA still does not promise players that they will be able to participate in the league’s anticipated financial growth through enhanced revenue sharing, similar to models used in the NBA and NFL.
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And so, both sides remain stuck in an impassewhich threatens to throw the league schedule into chaos.
Two new teams, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, will enter the WNBA in 2026. Both of these teams are scheduled to participate in expansion drafts, taking players from the league’s 13 other franchises to fill out their rosters. Expansion drafts cannot take place until a new CBA is in place.
A new expansion, in-game work stoppage scenarios
If no substantial progress is made in the next two days, the WNBA and WNBPA could agree to another extension through the end of 2025.
There is precedent for such a move. The 2020 CBA, which remains the status quo, was tentatively agreed in January 2020 after a 60-day extension allowed the parties to continue discussions.
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The two parties could continue negotiations even without the establishment of a new collective agreement. A work stoppage – whether an owner-initiated lockout or a player-initiated strike – could not begin without a formal vote from one of the two parties.
While there remains hope that a deal will be reached as time passes, little apparent progress has been made over the past month. This leaves the WNBA and its players in a precarious position, especially since the rise of rival league off-season Project B could change the dynamics of women’s professional basketball.
