CBA negotiations between the WNBA and WNBPA will continue.
On Thursday, both sides agreed to a 30-day extension, moving the deadline from Oct. 31 to Nov. 30, as first reported by The Athletic’s Ben Pickman.
Pickman further reported that the WNBA and WNBPA held in-person meetings on Wednesday and Thursday before the players union decided to accept the league’s proposed 30-day extension. Those meetings, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou and Kevin Pelton, focused on the overarching disconnect between the two sides: whether revenue sharing would be used to determine the salary cap.
A deal was not close to being agreed to prior to the extension. Negotiations are expected to continue, although it is unclear how frequently sessions will occur during the extension window, per ESPN.
Had the WNBPA not agreed to the extension, a lockout or strike would not have been immediate; however, Pickman reported that the league did hold a virtual meeting with members of team front offices “to discuss the logistics of a possible work stoppage.” A work stoppage, whether initiated by the players or league, is also not guaranteed if a deal is not consummated during the extended negotiating window, as both sides could continue bargaining under the “status quo.” Another extension also could be agreed to; during negotiations for the 2020 CBA, the sides extended the negotiating window by 60 days.
However, the need to complete an expansion draft for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, in particular, applies time pressure. According to Annie Costabile at Front Office Sports, the “entire league is blindly preparing for the draft,” even as the exact rules will be established by the new CBA. Costabile writes, “Many league executives have said they’re planning in accordance with last year’s expansion draft rules, although this draft includes multiple teams.” She additionally noted that, had a new CBA been agreed to, the expansion draft would have been held in December.
In the event that the sides continue to remain far apart and struggle to reach an agreement, ESPN suggests that “about three weeks is the fastest the WNBA could realistically hope to go from agreement on a deal to holding practices,” while noting that the league would prefer to be close to finalizing a new CBA by early January in order to avoid severely disrupting the conduct of offseason business.
