The WNBA players’ union has officially withdrawn from the league’s current collective bargaining agreement.
The Women’s National Basketball Players Association voted Monday to opt out of the current CBA with the league. The announcement, which came just one day after the New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA Finals, is something that has been long expected.
“The players made the decision to opt out of the latest CBA to realign the business and save the league from its own restrictions,” WNBPA President Terri Jackson said.
The union and league had until Nov. 1 to opt out of the current deal, which was first agreed to ahead of the 2020 season and expires in 2027. Monday’s announcement does not mean the league will immediately go into a lockout. however, as the current CBA is still in effect next season. Both parties now have about a year to reach an agreement. If that is not achieved, there could be a work stoppage after the 2025 campaign.
A timeline for negotiations or a new deal is not yet known.
“With the historic 2024 WNBA season in the books, we look forward to working with the players and the WNBPA to create a new CBA that is fair to all and lays the foundation for growth and success for years to come,” says Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. said in a statement Monday afternoon.
The decision to opt out came after a record year for the WNBA in both viewership and attendance. During the playoffs, viewership increased by more than 140% before the WNBA Finals even started, marking the highest viewership since the league’s inaugural season in 1997. Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark played a big role in that, as one of her play-off matches alone generated an incredible 2.5 million viewers. The semi-finals also attracted an average of 850,000 viewers, almost double that of last season.
While the league will reportedly lose about $40 million this season, finances will change when the new media rights deal kicks in in 2026. In July, the league signed an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC for about $200. million per season starting in 2026. The current media deal is valued at approximately $60 million per season. The WNBA is also expanding rapidly. The Golden State Valkyries will join the league starting in 2025, with teams from Portland and Toronto joining in 2026.
There are a number of things that players have been calling for in the new CBA, including higher player salaries, retirement benefits, maternity and family planning benefits, implementing new, consistent minimum professional standards across the board and the introduction of a ‘share-based’ economic model for the competition.
Here’s what WNBPA Executive Director Terri Jackson said: “The players made the decision to opt out of the latest CBA to realign the company and save the league from its own restrictions.”
The WNBPA has outlined its priorities in the following CBA: https://t.co/Dbmg7SlBQg pic.twitter.com/XyFH51Fsvy
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) October 21, 2024
“This will be an opportunity to listen to each other and take this league to the next level for generations to come,” Engelbert said before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals when asked about the CBA negotiations via The Associated Press. “I look forward to building the future of the league and sitting down with the players. Whether they unsubscribe, don’t unsubscribe.
“I suspect that given the transformation of the league that we have worked so hard on and building this long-term economic model, we have already returned to the players through charter, through the play-off bonuses a few years ago with increase more than 50. %. So we will continue to do that, and when we get to the negotiating table, we will continue to talk about the issues that matter most to the players.”
