As the expiration of the existing collective bargaining agreement approached at 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 30, the WNBA and the WNBPA reached a second extension agreement that officially pushes the deadline to January 9, 2026, preserving negotiations and preventing an immediate lockout. The extension, which lasts 40 days, can be terminated by either side with 48 hours’ notice, matching the terms of the previous 30-day extension agreed to on Oct. 31.
The union initially proposed a six-week extension, while the league countered with a 21-day timeline. After discussions throughout the final days before expiration, both sides settled on the 40-day compromise.
“The WNBA and WNBPA have agreed to extend the current CBA through January 9, 2026, with either party having the option to terminate the extension with 48 hours' advance notice,” the league said in a statement to ESPN. “The WNBA and WNBPA are continuing to work toward a new agreement.”
In a statement to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou on Sunday, the union announced the extension proposal and expressed the expectation of significant movement over the next six weeks.
“We have proposed a six-week extension,” the statement read. “We expect substantive movement from the league within this window.”
Negotiations over the past month failed to produce a new deal, with the primary dividing line centered on the salary model. Earlier in November, the league presented a proposal featuring a maximum salary exceeding $1.1 million through revenue sharing, a significant jump from the 2025 figures of a $249,244 supermax and $66,079 minimum. The offer also included a minimum salary of more than $220,000 and an average salary above $460,000, numbers projected to apply to more than 180 players in the first year of a new CBA and increase annually.
However, according to ESPN, the union dismissed the proposal, with at least one player calling it a “slap in the face,” on the grounds that the structure still relied on revenue targets similar to the current model. Under the existing CBA, revenue sharing is triggered only after aggregate benchmarks dating back to 2020 — benchmarks that were never met, in part due to the pandemic. As a result, players never received revenue-sharing payouts, and the salary cap increased at a fixed rate of just 3% per year.
The WNBPA continues to push for a system tied directly to overall basketball-related income, similar to the NBA model, and has stressed the need for changes to benefits, softened salary-cap rules, expanded rosters, codified charter travel, improved working-condition standards, and adjustments to prioritization, draft age limits, and core designations. However, meaningful progress on these items has reportedly not yet been reached.
The approaching league milestones make the situation more urgent. No major league events are scheduled until the upcoming expansion drafts, but the WNBA cannot conduct drafts for Toronto and Portland without a new CBA in place. Nearly all league veterans are also set to enter unrestricted free agency, creating what could be an unprecedented offseason once a deal is finalized.
The extension not only averts an immediate status quo period, which would have allowed either side to initiate a work stoppage, but also preserves the league’s history of never losing games to a lockout.
