With a deadline approaching for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and no deal in sight, the WNBA has proposed a 30-day extension for players to continue negotiations, officials confirmed to the Post on Tuesday night.
It remains uncertain if the WNBA Players Association will accept the extension.
Currently, the CBA is set to expire on Friday, leaving players anticipating a potential job stoppage as critical issues, particularly around revenue sharing, remain unresolved.
The last time a new CBA was established, back in 2019, both parties agreed to a 60-day extension, leading to a finalized agreement in January 2020.
As of Tuesday night, union officials indicated to the Post and others that “the players may consider an extension under appropriate circumstances,” but noted that such an extension “does not yet exist.”
Interestingly, there was no clarification on what would qualify as “appropriate circumstances” by the time the article was published.
The ongoing CBA negotiations caught attention earlier Tuesday, when Erin D. Drake, Senior Counsel for the WNBPA, shared on The Athletic’s “No Offseason” podcast that a resolution would not be achieved by the impending Friday deadline.
“I’ve been striving to announce that we reached a deal by Friday. Unfortunately, that’s not going to be possible,” Drake mentioned. “You know, in dance, it takes two to tango. It’s been quite a challenge to find the right beat and sense of urgency together.”
The WNBA stated that it has been negotiating “in good faith and with a sense of urgency for several months.”
They also explained that the most recent proposal was put forth on October 1, with the players’ association not responding until Monday.
“Throughout this process, it’s clear that our priority is to finalize a new collective bargaining agreement that meets players’ needs for significantly enhanced pay and benefits while fostering the league’s long-term success,” a WNBA spokesperson remarked. “We encourage the Players Association to focus less on publicly disseminating misinformation and more on constructive discussions.”
This ongoing tension between the players and WNBA leadership, overseen by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, has attracted public attention, especially after Adam Silver’s remarks on NBC’s “Today” show last week.
Silver noted that player salaries would see a “significant” increase under the new CBA, but emphasized the importance of examining “absolute numbers” instead of considering growth in percentage terms.
One of the most contentious points in the negotiations concerns player salaries and the establishment of a solid revenue-sharing model that accurately reflects business expansion.
The day following Silver’s comments, a statement from Jackson read in part: “We came to the table ready to engage. They are responding with inaccurate figures and seem to hope that no one grasps what ‘no cap’ truly means.”
The WNBA countered this by arguing that the players’ union “has yet to offer a feasible financial proposal and has frequently refused to meaningfully engage with many aspects of our proposal.”
