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The WNBA told players that the sides would need to agree to a labor deal by March 10 or the season would be delayed, a league source confirmed to Front Office Sports.
The sides have blown several deadlines as they’ve negotiated over a new collective bargaining agreement for more than a year and are rapidly closing in the May 8 scheduled start date for the season.
ESPN first reported the news of the league’s ultimatum. The comments were made in a bargaining session on Monday; the sides met virtually as New York City was blanketed by a snowstorm.
The league has been operating under “status quo” since the previous collective bargaining agreement expired on Jan. 9 after several extensions. But league business has been functionally frozen under a mutually-agreed moratorium, as a new CBA is required for free agency and trades.
Though the season is set for May, the league needs time to conduct free agency, an expansion draft for two new teams, and the college draft.
The sides swapped proposals last week, with the league not budging off its offer of $5.6 million per team. Players had sought a salary cap of more than $9 million and a greater share of league revenue. The league claims that the players’ proposed structure is “unrealistic” and would cause “hundreds of millions of dollars” in losses for the league and its teams.
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