The aftereffects of the new CBA deal are already being felt just weeks after a verbal agreement.

Under the new agreement, the league will extend its latest possible end date by one month, moving it to November 21, ESPN’s Alexa Philippou and Kendra Andrews reported.

An X update from ESPN Women's Hoops relayed the news, stating, "Under the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement, the league is changing its latest possible end date to Nov. 21. In 2028, the season could stretch to Nov. 30 because of the Olympics schedule.

Moreover, the 2028 season's end date could also be stretched to November 30 due to the Summer Olympics in the USA that year. And then, the number of games starting next year is also likely to increase by 50 due to the expansion with two new teams: the Portland Fire and the Toronto Temper.

This number is also expected to increase to 52 by 2029, as the league plans to add further new teams, such as Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia, between 2028 and 2030. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has been planning to expand the league's scheduling footprint since the end of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs.

Players will also see changes to their schedules under the new CBA. The training camp report date, previously set for May 1, will now shift to April 15 in 2027.

These changes bring along a chain reaction. For starters, rookies entering the WNBA will basically have no time to relax since college basketball ends just a week before (April 5 this year) the training camp starts.

Furthermore, the late November end date and earlier training camp start are likely to disrupt players who compete in leagues outside the WNBA.

The New CBA Deal's Impact on Other Professional Women's Leagues

The women’s professional basketball landscape has undergone a significant shift in how leagues outside the WNBA are perceived. More recently, Unrivaled emerged as a primary alternative for players, offering significantly higher earnings than the main league.

For instance, Unrivaled offers a minimum salary of $270,000, compared to the WNBA’s supermax salary of just $249,000 for the best players in the world, as per the previous deal.

Well, now that the area has seen a massive resolution, thanks to the new CBA deal, where superstars like A'ja Wilson will be receiving supermax deals of $1.4 million. It remains to be seen how Unrivaled will tackle this as a secondary option for the best of the best.

Meanwhile, Project B will be looking to reschedule as they start their first-ever season this November. The initial idea for November was kept because it is an off-season period for the WNBA, meaning all eyes would have been on them.

For now, all attention is towards the new WNBA season as the CBA was ratified by both the WNBPA and the league on Tuesday, and both sides must now complete the long-form document.

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Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Souvik Roy