The current CBA is set to expire on October 31–three days from now. Considering how close the deadline is and how slowly the negotiations are moving, it seems unlikely that a new deal will be reached by the deadline. That won’t necessarily lead to a lockout right away. The WNBA and the WNBPA can agree to an extension, like they did in 2020, when a new CBA was settled in January.
Even without a lockout, long negotiations could have a serious impact on the 2026 WNBA season, delaying free agency, the expansion draft for the Tempo and Fire, and the WNBA draft.
In a WNBA mailbag, The Athletic’s Ben Pickman pinpointed the latest time a new CBA could be agreed upon to avoid serious delays. “It seems as if having a deal done by the beginning of March would allow for all that’s mentioned above to progress at a regular pace,” Pickman wrote. “In that scenario, the league could hold both its expansion draft and free agency period in March, allow the WNBA Draft to be held on schedule in April, and begin the 2026 season in May.”
The players cannot afford to rush the CBA negotiations
WNBA players have never been in a better position to negotiate a good CBA that includes higher salaries and fairer revenue shares among many other things players have been asking for for a long time, such as standardized practice facilities and better medical and family planning benefits. In recent years, the league’s popularity has exploded, and, with a massive media rights deal and high expansion fees, there is no denying that the league is also doing much better financially.
That gives players the leverage necessary to negotiate a pivotal CBA that could change the trajectory of professional women’s basketball in the U.S. The players have the fans’ support, too. At the All-Star Game, fans in attendance chanted “Pay them!” at the end of the game.
In a recent interview with Glamour, Napheesa Collier, who has been at the forefront of the players’ CBA fight, said, “We are being so grossly almost taken advantage of, and it should be illegal.”
Changing that takes time and effort. At the same time, however, a lockout and potentially a canceled 2026 season could destroy all of the momentum the WNBA has built over the last couple of years. While players have other options to make money, like brand deals, Unrivaled, and playing overseas, no one wants the WNBA to take steps backward instead of forward. However, agreeing to yet another CBA that doesn’t guarantee players what they deserve would also mean not moving forward in the right direction.