WNBA CBA expires Friday, but no deal in sight: 'It's going to be a battle'

Danny Webster, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Oct 30, 2025

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LAS VEGAS — It’s unlikely that the WNBA will have a new collective bargaining agreement in place before the deal expires Friday.

That doesn’t mean a lockout is imminent. The WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association have ratified new CBAs with the help of an extension before.

The league has requested a 30-day extension to continue talks beyond Friday, according to multiple reports. But a contentious standoff may be on the way given the tone of some public comments from players.

“It’s going to be a battle,” said Aces guard Chelsea Gray, the team’s WNBPA representative, on Oct. 14. “There’s no league without players. There’s nothing you can do without the players, to me.”

Two extensions were needed to complete the current CBA, which was agreed to Jan. 14, 2020.

The CBA was set to run through 2027, but the players decided to opt out Oct. 21, 2024.

‘I’m not confident’

The WNBA has never had a work stoppage because of a labor dispute. There is plenty of time before the start of the regular season in May to strike a deal, but a resolution doesn’t appear imminent.

“Unfortunately, I’m not confident,” said WNBPA legal counsel Erin Drake on the “Good Game with Sarah Spain” podcast on Oct. 16. “We’ve had a year (to negotiate) and it hasn’t gotten done. … The fight doesn’t end after Oct. 31.”

Players have been vocal about their displeasure with the state of the league.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, a WNBPA vice president, criticized commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a news conference Sept. 30 for her stance on issues like officiating and how young players are being paid.

Collier claimed Engelbert told her in a meeting that Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, “should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.”

“And in that same conversation, (Engelbert) told me, ‘Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them,’ ” Collier said.

Engelbert, in a news conference at Michelob Ultra Arena prior to the start of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 3, responded by saying, “There’s a lot of inaccuracy out there.”

All-time high

The standoff comes as the WNBA’s popularity continues to grow. ESPN said the 25 regular-season games it aired this year had an average of 1.3 million viewers, up 6% from 2024.

Some of that increase is due to an influx of exciting young players. Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in 2024 out of Iowa, is one. So are Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers.

The players want to see the WNBA’s growth reflected in the next CBA.

The league’s salary cap was $1.507 million in 2025. Minimum salaries started at $66,079 and the supermax was $249,244.

Aces forward A’ja Wilson, a four-time WNBA MVP and two-time Finals MVP, made $200,000 this year.

More money, more problems

The league is adding two expansion teams, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, for the 2026 season. The WNBA will expand to 18 teams by 2030 with Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030) joining the fray.

The league secured an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon and NBC in July 2024 that’s valued at $2.2 billion.

“For players, we want what we’ve been talking about for many years,” Aces guard Jewell Loyd said Oct. 14. “We’ve done everything we’ve been asked to do as players, give them a great high-quality product on the court every single night. … Now it’s time to reap the benefits of that — not just us, but everybody ahead of us and before us.

“The momentum of the league right now is so high, and it’ll be unfortunate if there is a lockout, but at the same time, we want to fight for what we need and that’s the most important thing. … Hopefully things start to change.”