After two short-term extensions since the end of October, the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the WNBA and the WNBPA expired at 11:59 p.m. ET Friday night.
As of this writing, there aren’t plans from either the players or the league to agree to another extension. That the deadline passed without an agreement wasn’t a surprise. Players’ union vice president and current New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart expressed her doubt about a new CBA being agreed to before the expiration.
“I have never been told that we’re having an extension,” Stewart said to a scrum of reporters during a practice for WNBA off-season league Unrivaled. “Literally, what I have been told is that we will continue to negotiate in good faith and not have an extension.”
The CBA Is Expiring — But There’s No Immediate Work Stoppage
Without an extension, what happens next isn’t a work stoppage— either a strike initiated by the players or a lockout initiated by the league and its owners—but rather it is the continuation of status quo. A period of status quo is a legal order that refers to conditions staying the same until a labor dispute is resolved. In the case of the WNBA and the WNBPA, the rules communicated in the 2020 CBA that are set to expire on Friday night will remain while both sides continue to negotiate.
A source familiar with the negotiations told NBC Sports that the WNBA has no plans to initiate a lockout. The players association also won’t be initiating a strike as of now, however, Stewart didn’t rule it out. “[It’s] not not something that we’re going to do right this second, but we have that in our back pocket,” she said Thursday.
The players formally put that possibility in their back pocket on December 18 when the WNBPA announced that its players had voted to authorize its executive committee members to initiate a strike when WNBPA leadership sees fit.
The executive committee includes players such as Stewart, Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, Washington Mystics guard Alysha Clark, Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, Chicago Sky center Elizabeth Williams and Indiana Fever forward Brianna Turner.
This action was a part of the union’s parliamentary procedure and is viewed by many as a vote of confidence from the rank and file members in their union’s leadership. It’s up to the executive committee to determine if striking is necessary, and they can strike without the WNBPA holding another union wide vote.
Meanwhile the WNBPA announced Thursday afternoon that the union had created a network of player training hubs across the United States and Spain so that in the event of a work stoppage—where players wouldn’t be able to use the facilities of their current teams or talk to front offices of their teams around the league—players would have access to high quality training infrastructure including courts, weight rooms and recovery spaces.
As of now the majority of WNBA players are either playing in Miami at Unrivaled or are overseas playing for club teams in Europe, Asia or Australia. These are situations where players also have access to facilities. Next month another batch of WNBA players will take part in another off-season league, Athletes Unlimited in Nashville. A source familiar with the negotiations confirmed to NBC Sports that under a status quo period players won’t lose their access to WNBA team facilities if players aren’t playing in a domestic off-season league or overseas.
Why There Was No Third Extension
So if both sides are committed to negotiating in good faith, why wasn’t another extension made to the 2020 CBA?
ESPN’s Katie Barnes asked both WNBPA president Ogwumike and vice president Collier this very question.
Ogwumike pointed toward the fact that extensions are a result of “progress” that’s made between both sides. She told Barnes that the players association was still waiting for the league to respond to their proposal from over two weeks ago. “Right now, it appears as though the evidence is showing that the league is trying to run out the clock,” she said.
A source familiar with the negotiations expressed surprise to NBC Sports that the negotiations were quiet toward the final couple of weeks of the 2025 calendar year.
When it comes to the WNBA’s reasoning for not sending back another proposal to the WNBPA, ESPN’s Alexa Philippou reported that the proposal sent by the union “wasn’t significantly different” from the WNBPA’s most recent offer.
What are the reasons for the stalemate on both sides? Over the past two months it has become clear that the main schisms between both sides have revolved around the ways in which the WNBA allocates its money and the fact that both sides prefer different revenue sharing models. Tension has also risen with regards to what benefits the league should be providing and how much higher salaries should be.
In a press release moments before the CBA’s expiration on Friday night, the WNBPA reiterated its positions on salary requirements and participation in revenue sharing.
“Make no mistake,” the release read. “Pay equity is not optional and progress is long overdue. We urge the league and its teams to meet this moment. The players already have and will continue to do so.”
The WNBA released a statement of their own after midnight on Saturday morning acknowledging the expiration of the current CBA.
“As the league experiences a pivotal time of unprecedented popularity and growth, we recognize the importance of building upon that momentum,” the statement read. “Our priority is a deal that significantly increases player salaries, enhances the overall player experience, and supports the long-term growth of the league for current and future generations of players and fans.”
In the coming days, NBC Sports will explain what each side has proposed and why specifically both sides remain at odds.
What the Stalemate Means for the WNBA Calendar
While the WNBA remains in its off-season, there are still ripple effects that result from a new CBA not yet being agreed to and ratified.
According to ESPN, the WNBA floated the idea of a moratorium, defined as a temporary suspension, a few days before Friday to delay the initial stages of free agency. Late on Friday night the league put this in writing and the WNBPA is currently reviewing the proposed amendment.
Front Office Sports reported that since there wasn’t a moratorium in place, the league office called general managers earlier this week to explain that a status quo period technically meant that they could start to send out qualifying offers, the paperwork that begins the free agency process, beginning this Sunday January 11.
Without a moratorium agreed to, executives would have to send out paperwork to free agents. Players are unlikely to sign those offers because a new CBA has yet to establish a formal salary cap, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Prior to any free agency period the league has under a new CBA, a double expansion draft to create rosters for both new expansion teams the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire ought to happen first. Over a year ago, the league held its expansion draft for the Golden State Valkyries in December followed by a free agency period that took place from January into February.
With negotiations at a standstill, the probability increases for the WNBA to have a condensed off-season period including the expansion draft and free agency all before an amateur draft takes place in mid-April.
Condensed off-season activities aren’t a new concept for the WNBA as back in 2014 a CBA was agreed to in mid-February with training camp beginning in April. In 2003 the league held its amateur draft on the same day its CBA was ratified.
While Stewart noted on Sarah Spain’s Good Game podcast that a realistic goal for the CBA to be finalized was by the first day of February, she also expressed the poor time management that has occurred on both sides.
“The most frustrating part is we all didn’t do our best in the beginning… because we were just kind of wasting time when we actually could have been having meetings and we were in person and we had that big one in W All-Star,” she said. “That was a moment to really talk about the details of things. So because we’ve really not been productive in many in-person meetings and I feel like from my perspective that’s where I would like to feel comfortable… to find a common ground, but we just haven’t. So that’s what’s frustrating is the wasted opportunities.”
The pressure is on for both sides to timely come to an agreement. Further delay will result in a compressed off-season calendar with less time for free agency recruiting following a two-team expansion draft.
