The Women’s National Basketball Players’ Association (WNBPA) opted out of their current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) over a year ago. Negotiations have been ongoing through the summer and into the fall, as they neared the original deadline of Oct. 31. That deadline came, and the league and players agreed on a 30-day extension, bringing the new deadline to Nov. 30. That was yesterday. As midnight approached, fans eagerly waited for an update.
The update came around 11:45 pm — the sides had agreed to another extension, this time just under six weeks to likely account for the upcoming holiday season. The new CBA deadline is Jan 9, 2026.
ESPN’s Alexa Philippou provided an update on the WNBA’s latest offer during Monday’s episode of NBA Today, saying that there is still no update from the players on their reaction to these numbers. This is a new update after the proposal from a few weeks ago was rejected by the players because of the fact that the revenue-sharing part was not in line with what the players wanted.
Another extension being locked in is definitely a good sign, and matches the timeline from the last CBA negotiations in 2020. That year, the sides agreed on a deal on Jan. 14, 2020. While another extension may seem like nothing is happening, it’s a much better alternative to either side not agreeing to an extension at all and letting the contracts expire. In this scenario, it kind of signals that there is hope that a deal will come together eventually, and that there is progress being made in negotiations. If the sides were so opposed that they did not think an extension would do anything, they could instead head into a work stoppage, which won’t happen under an extension.
Both sides still have the option to cancel the extension and let the deal expire 48 hours from that moment if negotiations take a turn. If the deal does expire at any point, that does not automatically mean a strike or lockout starts. The deal would then go into “status quo” — where the terms of the previous CBA stay intact, but either side is then open to start conversations about a strike or lockout.
So, now we turn our attention to Jan. 9, the new deadline. Despite being on track with the last CBA’s timeline, the WNBA is a very different place in 2025-2026 than it was in 2020. These changes make it so that we are very likely going to have a very condensed offseason, with several of the items on the league’s “to-do list” happening on a short timeline. It seems inevitable now for things to be rushed, and if the negotiations extend longer than Jan. 9, there is not much wiggle room before the 2026 season starts to be impacted.
After a new CBA is agreed upon, there are several things the WNBA needs to get started on. Before anything else, they need to hold an expansion draft for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, who are both entering the league in 2026. When the WNBA held an expansion draft for the Golden State Valkyries in 2024, they gave the team the rules of the draft with four weeks’ time to prep for it, and gave them the league’s list of protected players just 11 days before draft day.
Let’s try and map out the rest of the WNBA offseason hypothetically, as if a CBA deal were reached on Jan. 9.
If the same timeline for an expansion draft is afforded to Toronto and Portland, and if they were able to give them the rules on Jan. 9 as an example, that would push the expansion draft to Feb. 6. The league needs to give the established teams time to create their protected lists and the expansion teams time to plan. On this timeline, expansion teams would be getting the league’s protected players list on Jan. 26.
If an expansion draft happens around Feb. 6, free agency would have to wait to begin until after that. Usually, the league gives teams a window of negotiation (usually around a week) where they can speak to players but cannot sign anyone. Then, the signing period starts, and teams can start getting contracts inked. With over 80% of the league heading into free agency, it’s going to be especially chaotic. If the league gave a week in between the expansion draft and the start of the free agency negotiation period, that would start on Feb. 13, with free agency signings being allowed as of Feb. 20.
Teams would then have six weeks between the start of free agency and the end of the NCAA’s March Madness tournament, signing players to their roster and scouting incoming draft talent at the same time. Six weeks to sign 80% of the league to 15 teams and create training camp rosters, while also trying to figure out their draft needs for a draft that is currently scheduled for Monday, Apr. 13 — just eight days after the end of the NCAA tournament.
This year, more than other years, the WNBA does not have any room to adjust the 2026 season. This is because the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany is happening immediately after the season, meaning the 2026 season will already be condensed. Now that the WNBA plays 44 games in a season, they will pack all of those 44 games into a timeline that allows the WNBA Finals to end before players need to report to their international teams for the World Cup. There is absolutely no room for the WNBA to hold the season off a week or two if CBA negotiations stretch any longer, as there is already going to be a tight schedule. Players felt the effects of the tight schedule last season, and that wasn’t even during a World Cup or Olympic year.
The current Jan. 9 deadline means the WNBA offseason is still possible, but will be very condensed. It also means the league is going to be in a tough place should negotiations extend past that date. With no room to delay the season, the other option would be to start shortening the season from 44 games, therefore losing money. Which wouldn’t be something the league or players want, obviously.
Overall, the WNBA and players coming to terms on an extension is good news — they are still willing to come back to the negotiation table. Now they just have more time pressure than ever to get things over the finish line.
