Why the WNBA approved a schedule release without a new CBA originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The WNBA’s 2026 regular season has a start date. What the WNBA still does not have is a new collective bargaining agreement that locks in historic contractual gains for players and reflects the league’s financial leap in the 2020s.
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Despite the league and Women’s National Basketball Players Association entering a “status quo” following the expiration of the CBA on Jan. 9, each of the WNBA’s 15 teams on Wednesday announced their 2026 schedules in release videos posted to social media.
The 2026 regular season will consist of 44 games per team, beginning on May 8 and ending Sept. 24; the playoffs will start on Sept. 27. There will be a late-season break for players to participate in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup; the tournament runs from Sept. 4 to Sept. 13, but the season break will start Aug. 31 and end Sept. 16.
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How is this possible? According to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, it’s just business.
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“The league views the schedule release as a necessary part of business operations that allows teams to start logistical planning (and) sell ticket packages,” Philippou wrote on X. “Also to secure optimal arena dates, all the more crucial for teams who don’t own their arenas.”
The WNBA and its teams trying to get in front of events like concerts is a key strategic reason why the schedule announcement was ushered out on a Wednesday evening in January.
But until a new CBA is agreed and ratified, the league’s hopes of completing a full 44-game season should be approached with a healthy dose of skepticism.
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