WNBA CBA talks extended, but no deal in sight: ‘It’s going to be a battle’

The WNBA will certainly not have a new collective bargaining agreement in place before Friday’s deadline.

That doesn’t mean a lockout is imminent. The WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association have ratified new CBAs with the help of an extension before.

The league and the players agreed to a 30-day extension Thursday night, according to The Athletic. Despite the deadline now set for Nov. 30, a contentious standoff may be on the way given the tone of some public comments from players.

“It’s going to be a battle,” Aces guard Chelsea Gray, the team’s WNBPA representative, said Oct. 14. “There’s no league without players. There’s nothing you can do without the players, to me.”

Two extensions were needed to complete the current CBA, which was agreed to Jan. 14, 2020.

The CBA was set to run through 2027, but the players decided to opt out Oct. 21, 2024.

‘I’m not confident’

The WNBA has never had a work stoppage because of a labor dispute. There is plenty of time to strike a deal before the start of the regular season in May, but a resolution doesn’t appear imminent.

“Unfortunately, I’m not confident,” WNBPA legal counsel Erin Drake said on the “Good Game with Sarah Spain” podcast Oct. 16. “We’ve had a year (to negotiate), and it hasn’t gotten done. … The fight doesn’t end after Oct. 31.”

Players have been vocal about their displeasure with the state of the league.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, a WNBPA vice president, criticized commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a news conference Sept. 30 for her stance on issues such as officiating and how young players are being paid.

Collier claimed Engelbert told her in a meeting that Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark “should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.”

“And in that same conversation, (Engelbert) told me, ‘Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them,’ ” Collier said.

Engelbert, in a news conference at Michelob Ultra Arena before the start of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 3, responded by saying, “There’s a lot of inaccuracy out there.”

Popularity at all-time high

The standoff comes as the WNBA’s 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.

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.

The players want to see the WNBA’s growth reflected in the next CBA.

The league’s salary cap was $1.507 million in 2025. Minimum salaries started at $66,079, and the supermax was $249,244.

Aces forward A’ja Wilson, a four-time WNBA MVP and two-time Finals MVP, made $200,000 this year.

More money, more problems

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.

The league secured an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon and NBC in July 2024 that’s valued at $2.2 billion.

“For players, we want what we’ve been talking about for many years,” Aces guard Jewell Loyd said Oct. 14. “We’ve done everything we’ve been asked to do as players, give them a great, high-quality product on the court every single night. … Now it’s time to reap the benefits of that — not just us, but everybody ahead of us and before us.

“The momentum of the league right now is so high, and it’ll be unfortunate if there is a lockout, but at the same time, we want to fight for what we need, and that’s the most important thing. … Hopefully things start to change.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.