The WNBA Nears Its First Lockout Amid Failing CBA Talks

WNBA players are standing on business and not budging. The players and the league’s brass have been engaged in Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) talks for some time now, with the current deal set to expire on October 31. Now the players’ association is blaming the WNBA for not moving quickly enough in light of the league’s unprecedented success in recent seasons. “The players are working diligently to achieve a transformational CBA that builds on the growth, momentum, and positive news surrounding women’s sports and the W,” WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “As we approach the 60-day mark, the league’s lack of urgency leaves players wondering if it is focused on making this work or just running out the clock. Fans do not want that. They are with the players in demanding a new standard for the W.”  There are several possible outcomes, with the most likely being that both parties extend the current CBA for a bit longer. That’s what happened in 2019, and with an additional 60 days to negotiate, they reached a deal.

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Or they could play hardball, and the players could cease all play with a lockout, which would be the first in league history. It’s been clear over the past few months that the two sides were far apart, as the boardroom conversations became public when all the ladies showed up to the WNBA All-Star Game in solidarity wearing black shirts that read, “Pay Us What You Owe Us” across the front. Even before that, Angel Reese, who’s one of the younger players garnering hype, flat-out said on a March episode of her Unapologetically Angel podcast that there have been whispers of a strike. “I gotta get in the meetings because I’m hearing, if y’all don’t give us what we want, we sitting out,” Reese said. WNBA contracts are notoriously low, with rookies earning between $66,000 and $78,000 annually. However, with the league recently negotiating a $2.2 billion media rights deal, achieving record-setting viewership, increased attendance, and experiencing skyrocketing merchandise sales, the situation is changing. See social media’s reaction to the players’ threat and their confidence in knowing their worth below.

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