A day before the expiration of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the league and players union, the WNBPA, have agreed to a 30-day extension to allow both parties more time to negotiate a new deal.
The agreement, first announced by The Athletic, comes days after the league reportedly offered players an extension to avoid a lockout or strike, with the current CBA now due to expire on November 30.
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Had an extension not been reached by yesterday, there would have been three options on the table: continue as is, have the players go on strike, or have the owners lock the players out.
The protracted negotiations come after the WNBPA chose to opt out of the current CBA last October, giving the pair a year to create a new “transformative” deal built on the WNBA's significant growth over the last few years.
Without the opt-out, the agreement would have expired after the 2027 season.
At the time, the WNBPA said the players wanted a “share of the business we’ve built,” and would prioritize higher pay, better benefits, a softer salary cap, and a greater share of league revenue during negotiations.
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By GlobalDataHowever, relations between the two organizations have deteriorated recently, with both sides publicly accusing the other of not engaging with the process.
On Tuesday, WNBPA counsel, Erin Drake, told The Athletic’s ‘No Offseason’ podcast that the league had operated with a lack of urgency ahead of the expiration date, while a spokesperson for the league said the union should “spend less time disseminating public misinformation and more time joining us in constructive engagement across the table."
A major sticking point has been what a salary system and revenue sharing should look like, with the players seeking a salary system like the men’s NBA, which uses basketball-related income to determine its salary cap, rather than a fixed rate model used in the current CBA.
The league has insisted it has offered an "uncapped revenue sharing model that is directly tied to the league's performance." WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league is trying to “balance the significant increase in salaries and benefits with the long-term viability of the league.”
It is not the first time the WNBA and WNBPA have had to extend their CBA. During the last CBA negotiations in 2019, the sides agreed to a 60-day extension, which led to the current CBA being ratified in January 2020.
However, this time the new CBA carries more urgency due to the WNBA needing to fit in an expansion draft for two new teams, the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire. The league cannot procure draft rules without a CBA in place.
If the WNBA and WNBPA reach an agreement by the new deadline, the expansion draft could take place in December, but if not, it will be delayed further.
