WNBA offers players’ union a 30-day CBA extension to continue negotiations, per report

The WNBA has offered the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) a 30-day extension to continue negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. according to ESPN. The current CBA expires on Friday (October 31) unless the two parties agree in advance on an extension or a new deal.

According to ESPN, the players would only accept an extension “under the right circumstances,” but those circumstances “don’t exist yet.”

This would not be the first time that the two sides have needed an extension to complete negotiations on a new CBA. In fact, an extension was necessary to finalize the current CBA. In 2019, the two sides announced a 60-day extension before agreeing to a new deal in January 2020.

If the league and the players can’t agree to an extension, or if the extension comes and goes without another extension or a new deal, the next big move could be a work stoppage — most likely due to the owners locking out the players, although the players could also go on strike. At that point, all league activity would be halted – players wouldn’t even have access to practice facilities – but negotiations would continue.

However, the two parties could first enter a status quo period, during which the terms of the current CBA would continue, albeit not for a specific period. According to the Cornell Law Review: “Courts developed the ‘status quo’ doctrine from the Katz prohibition of unilateral changes. This doctrine requires employers to ‘maintain the status quo with respect to terms and conditions of employment during their bargaining period, to avoid engaging in [a violation of the duty to bargain in good faith].’” The key difference between the status quo and an extension is that either party can announce a work stoppage at any time during the status quo, while an extension locks in the current CBA until a specified date (or until a new CBA is agreed to).

The WNBA has never lost games due to a work stoppage, but it has come close. In 2003, a deal had still not been reached by early April and then-NBA Commissioner David Stern issued an ultimatum to agree on a new CBA by April 18 or the season would be canceled. That’s exactly what the two sides did. As a result, the 2003 WNBA Draft was postponed, as were preseason games.

WNBPA Senior Advisor and General Counsel Erin Drake told The Athletic Tuesday that the two sides will not agree on a new CBA before October 31.

“We worked hard to be able to say on Friday: we did it. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen,” Drake said. “In a dance, it takes two to tango. And it was hard to find a beat, to find a rhythm and to find the same sense of urgency [from the league]to be honest, to get this done.”

In a statement to ESPN, the league responded by saying it made an offer to the players on Oct. 1, which was ignored until Monday.

“We have been negotiating in good faith and as a matter of urgency with the Players Association for several months with the goal of finalizing a new collective bargaining agreement as quickly as possible,” a WNBA spokesperson told ESPN. “Throughout this process, we have made it clear that our top priority is to reach a new collective bargaining agreement that meets players’ demands for significant pay increases, benefits and improvements to their experience, while ensuring the long-term growth and success of the league and its teams.

“We urge the Players Association to spend less time spreading public misinformation and more time engaging constructively at the table.”

The WNBA and WNBPA have been embroiled in a bitter labor dispute for more than a year. In October 2024, the players announced their intention to opt out of the current CBA.

“This is a defining moment not just for the WNBA, but for all of us who believe in progress,” said WNBPA President Mrs. Ogwumike said in a statement at the time. “The world has evolved since 2020 and we cannot afford to stand still. If we stick to the current agreement, we will fall behind.

“Opting out isn’t just about higher salaries – it’s about claiming our rightful share of the business we’ve built, improving working conditions and securing a future where the success we create benefits the players of today and generations to come. We’re not just asking for a CBA that reflects our value; we’re demanding it because we’ve earned it.”

In recent months, tension between the players and the league, and commissioner Cathy Engelbert in particular, has increased. Specifically, the vice president of the WNBPA Napheesa Collier delivered a scathing rebuke of Engelbert during her post-exit interview Minnesota lynx season.

“We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But right now we have the worst leadership in the world,” Collier said, while also accusing Engelbert of making disparaging comments about players, including Caitlin Clark.

Engelbert later addressed the criticism during her press conference ahead of the final.

“I have the utmost respect for Napheesa and every player in our league,” she said. “They are at the center of everything we do. I was discouraged to hear that some players are feeling the competition and I personally don’t care about them or listen to them. If the players in the W don’t feel valued and valued by the competition, then we have to do better and I have to do better.”

The main sticking point between the two parties is the revenue sharing model.

Under the current CBA, the salary ceiling – and therefore player salaries – increases at a fixed rate of 3% per year. The players are pushing for a new model where salaries grow with the company. Currently, reports indicate that players only receive about 9% of all revenues, which is a far cry from the 49-51% of basketball-related revenues that N.B.A players receive.

While Engelbert and N.B.A Commissioner Adam Silver have both publicly supported increasing player salaries, but they have pushed back on revenue sharing.

“I don’t think stocks are the right way to look at it because there’s so much more revenue in the NBA,” Silver said earlier this month. “I think you have to look at absolute numbers in terms of what they’re making. They’re going to get a big bump in this collective bargaining cycle and they deserve it.”