UConn star Paige Bueckers entered the WNBA during a pivotal moment in the league’s history. Not only was the WNBA trying to build on its massive success in 2024, but it was also about to enter its most important CBA negotiations in recent history. The players opted out of the current CBA in October 2024, hoping to strike a new deal and capitalize on the league’s newfound success.
The current CBA was supposed to expire on October 31, but the league and the WNBPA signed two extensions, and negotiations can now last until early January. The two sides are obviously still divided on many key issues, such as revenue shares and team housing. Due to the little movement in the negotiations, WNBA fans, who just want an opportunity to watch their favorite players play in their favorite league, are getting worried about the next season. Long CBA negotiations could delay the expansion draft for the Tempo and Fire, free agency, and potentially the college draft—and that is if the players do not go on strike or the league calls for a lockout.
Paige Bueckers’s CBA prediction in a December 9th article published in The Dallas Morning News by Myah Taylor won’t ease fans’ worries.
“There’s things, as WNBA player and the WNBPA, that we’re standing firm on,” one of Bueckers’s quotes reads. “I think that’s why the extensions are happening and the conversations are continuing to keep going past the deadlines. These deadlines will probably continue to keep getting extended.”
If Bueckers is right, it might be a while until a new CBA is signed.
WNBA players have more leverage than ever before
WNBA players have had to be content with less-than-ideal CBAs throughout the league’s history. The WNBA is still a young league and has had to navigate a world in which women’s sports have never received the financial support or attention they deserve and need.
Now, players finally have the leverage to demand many of the things they have wanted for a long time, such as higher salaries, fairer revenue shares, standards for facilities, and better retirement benefits. The WNBA saw record-setting viewership and attendance numbers in several of the latest seasons, signed a lucrative TV deal, and made $250 million in expansion fees from each of the new teams in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia. Moreover, WNBA players have proved that they are very marketable. The league has no more excuses.
On top of that, players have newfound leverage due to opportunities in Unrivaled and Project B and brand deals players in previous generations didn’t have. They could survive a strike if they had to. Missing out on the 2026 season wouldn’t help either side, though. It would cost the league a lot of precious momentum, and that wouldn’t benefit anyone. So, while the CBA negotiations will take a while, there are still plenty of reasons to believe that a new deal will be signed eventually.