The WNBA season is going to be longer than ever with the new CBA

The WNBA goes to be a really completely different league after ratifying its new collective bargaining settlement on Tuesday. That features if you’ll be watching the video games.

One of many provisions of the CBA is the season beginning sooner and ending later, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou and Kendra Andrews.

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Beneath the earlier CBA, gamers had been required to report for coaching camp by Might 1, with the season beginning just a few weeks later. That date has reportedly now modified to April 15.

The season was additionally required to finish by Oct. 31. That attainable finish date is now Nov. 21, with 2028 probably stretching to Nov. 30 because of the Olympic break.

These modifications are mad to accommodate the league’s ongoing enlargement, with the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fireplace commencing operations this season whereas groups in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia set to to affix between 2028 and 2030. The variety of video games performed for every crew will reportedly be elevated to 50 in 2027 and 52 in 2029, up from 44 this yr.

All of this comes with ripple results. For starters, the moved-up coaching camp date additional shrinks what was already a really quick turnaround time between the tip of the school basketball season (April 5 this yr) and the beginning of every rookie’s skilled profession.

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On the opposite finish, ending the season in late November probably throws a wrench within the plans of Venture B, an upstart league scheduled to start taking part in this November, and different leagues that function in the course of the WNBA’s offseason.

The WNBA is about to have extra groups and extra video games. That is going to require extra time.

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For many years, girls’s skilled basketball adopted a construction of its prime gamers construct their reputations within the WNBA, then play abroad to make significantly extra money than their WNBA salaries. Extra just lately, Unmatched has turn into a main possibility for gamers to make considerably greater than what the WNBA was paying them. The league’s new wage scale — which pays a minimal wage ($270,000) greater than the final CBA’s supermax ($249,000) — upends that construction and positions the WNBA as a spot the place elite gamers might be paid elite salaries (reminiscent of A’ja Wilson’s incoming $1.4 million wage). What which means for different leagues stays to be seen.

That’s only one space the place the WNBA is altering. Per ESPN, listed here are some others within the full CBA that was simply ratified:

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A rookie wage scale that can pay the highest choose of the 2026 WNBA Draft $550,000 per yr throughout 4 seasons, with the common first-round choose getting $386,000 per yr

Full wage protections for lottery picks of their first yr

Nursing rooms and, beginning in 2027, household rooms at residence arenas

Beginning in 2028, observe amenities with locker rooms plus medical and loo amenities for unique use by WNBA gamers

A requirement that every crew employs two athletic trainers, two crew physicians, one power and conditioning coach, one bodily therapist, one director of sports activities drugs and one therapeutic massage therapist, with entry to a nutritionist

As much as seven assured contracts per crew (up from six)

WNBPA management of licensing rights for adults jerseys

An additional resort room for dependent kids 13 or youthful touring with the crew

Two weeks of paid depart for nonbirthing dad and mom

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