WNBA, players union agree to 40-day extension on CBA

The WNBA and WNBA Players Association agreed to an extension on the current CBA through Jan. 9, as they look to continue negotiations toward a new deal, the league announced.

The agreement includes the option for either party to terminate the extension with 48 hours’ notice.

Both sides agreed to the extension shortly before their Sunday 11:59 p.m. ET deadline. The union proposed a six-week extension after initially discussing a 24-hour extension, sources said, while the league pushed for one of 21 days.

“The WNBA and WNBPA are continuing to work toward a new agreement,” the league said in its statement Sunday night.

The union and league previously extended the initial Oct. 31 deadline by 30 days last month.

Sunday’s move comes as the two sides have seemingly remained far apart amid negotiations particularly in determining salary structure and revenue sharing systems.

According to a Nov. 18 report by The Associated Press, and later confirmed by ESPN, the WNBA had proposed a deal featuring significant salary increases as well as a revenue sharing component, in all offering players at the maximum more than $1.1 million and at the minimum more than $220,000. The league’s minimum salary was $66,079 in 2025 and its supermax was $249,244.

But the WNBPA and its players were not moved by the proposal, sources told ESPN, as they felt it did not feature a system in which the salary cap, and thus player salaries, would sufficiently grow with the business — such as in the NBA, where the salary cap is directly determined by basketball-related income (BRI). Players no longer want a salary cap that, in their view, is chosen arbitrarily ($1,507,100 in 2025) and grows at a fixed rate (3% each year under the current CBA).

The current agreement also has a separate revenue sharing provision that grants direct payments to players if the league hits certain revenue targets (this has yet to happen, largely because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic).

Since the league’s proposal leaked, the WNBA and union sent updated proposals back and forth and met frequently, including Sunday. Other priorities the players are pushing for include establishing minimum professional standards in facilities, codifying the league’s charter travel program, and expanding retirement and pregnancy/family planning benefits.

The league has said it wants to substantially increase player salaries and other cost commitments, while also incentivizing owners to continue to invest in operating the business. The WNBA’s rapid growth in recent years provides an opportunity for the business to go from operating at losses to, the league hopes, building sustained profitability.