Just minutes before the current collective bargaining agreement was set to expire, the WNBA and the Women's National Basketball Players Association agreed to a 40-day extension, the league announced Sunday night. The new expiration date for the current CBA is Friday, January 9, 2026. Either party may terminate the renewal at any time with 48 hours' notice.
This is the second time the current CBA has been extended. It was originally scheduled to expire on October 31, but a few days before that date both parties agreed to a 30-day extension, pushing the expiration date back to November 30. There have been few changes over the past 30 days – at least publicly – and it appeared both sides might be heading towards a period of status quo before their last-minute extension late Sunday.
Extensions are not a new phenomenon in CBA negotiations. In fact, both sides required a 60-day extension to reach agreement on the current CBA, which was not ratified until January 2020. It appears that ongoing negotiations may follow a similar schedule.
Latest WNBA proposal doesn't move the needle
According to the Associated Press, the WNBA made a new offer to players in November that included significant salary increases, including a new minimum salary (more than $220,000) that would be more than the usual 2025 salary cap ($214,466). However, players did not believe the proposal moved negotiations forward, ESPN reported.
WNBA CBA Negotiations: League's Latest Proposal Would Raise Minimum Salary Above 2025 Cap, According to Report
Jack Maloney
While players want more money, their top priority is a new revenue distribution model, not just higher salaries.
“If you and I aren’t going to the right restaurant, who cares what we order as an appetizer?” First Vice President of the WNBPA Kelsey Plum said earlier this year. “First, second, third is the share of revolutions. [and] salary. So when I say we keep offering and the counter offers that come back are further away from where we thought we would be, to me – and I think a lot of players agree with this as a union – it's literally meat and potatoes.”
However, under the current CBA, the salary cap – and therefore player salaries – increases at a flat rate of 3% per year. Players are pushing for a new model in which salaries grow along with business.
Currently, players reportedly receive only about 9% of all revenues, a far cry from the 49-51% of basketball-related revenues that NBA players receive. While the current CBA has a clause that provides for revenue sharing if the WNBA reaches certain milestones, they have never been met, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the WNBA's latest proposal reportedly included a revenue-sharing component, the ESPN report indicated that players remain unsatisfied with how the salary cap, and therefore player salaries, will rise.
What happens next?
From here there are four paths forward. Let's quickly go through them:
1. New Central Bank
The ideal outcome would be a new CBA. The sooner both sides can come to an agreement on a new CBA, the sooner the offseason will begin. Although the draft lottery was finally held late last month, Dallas Wings won the No. 1 pick for the second year in a row—no other major offseason events can take place until the new CBA is ratified.
The new CBA by January 9 will also ensure the 2026 season starts on time, which is critical to the continued growth of the league.
2. Another extension of the current CBA.
If for some reason both sides still cannot agree on an agreement by January 9, they can agree on a new extension. While it wouldn't be ideal, it would be better than the risk of stopping work.
3. Status quo period
If January 9 passes without a new CBA or other extension, there will be no automatic shutdown. Instead, both sides will enter a period of status quo, which appears to be the most likely next step.
According to the Cornell Law Review: “Courts have developed the status quo doctrine with Katz prohibition of unilateral changes. This doctrine requires employers to “maintain the status quo regarding terms and conditions of employment during negotiations to avoid committing [a violation of the duty to bargain in good faith].'”
The key difference between status quo and extension is that either party can declare work to cease at any time during the status quo, while an extension will block the current CBA until a specified date (or until a new CBA is agreed upon).
4. Suspension of work
At any time during the status quo period, either party may declare a work stoppage. This will most likely happen due to the owners banning the players, although players could also go on strike.
In the event of a lockout, all league activities will cease and players will not be able to access team facilities. That would mean no expansion draft, no free agents, no trades, no 2026 WNBA draft, nothing until a new CBA is created. Depending on how long the lockout lasts, it is possible that the 2026 season could be delayed or, in a worst-case scenario, cancelled.
The WNBA has never lost a game due to a work stoppage.
