The WNBA and WNBAPA are still hard at work on coming to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement. The league previously let teams and players know that the 2026 season was in danger of being impacted if no labor deal was agreed to by March 10.
“We… are running out of time. We believe the WNBA’s proposal would result in a huge win for current players & generations to come,” the league said in a statement.
However, despite negotiants stretching into the wee hours of the night, the date came and went without a deal.
Now, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert is updating the timeline on when the sides will need to strike an agreement in order for the season to continue as scheduled.
“We have to get it done by Monday. I should say, we have to get it done without disrupting some part of the fact that we’ve got to run this two-team expansion [draft],” Engelbert said, via ESPN.
“We’ve got to get expansion going. We’ve got to get free agency going. We’ve got to get the college draft, which is now a month from today.”
Before Engelbert spoke, WNBAPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said that the league’s deadlines have felt “quite arbitrary,” but did say that she felt like things were heading in the right direction.
“I think the league, and particularly the commissioner and her team, have heard that transformational remains the goal,” Jackson told reporters. “As long as movement keeps us going in a forward direction, then I think we’re good.”
“Negotiations last time, that’s how we got it done. We just keep grinding and keep doing the work around the clock,” Jackson added.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.