With the current CBA expiring in just over two months, Front Office Sports reported Monday that the prospect of the WNBA and the players' union (WNBPA) reaching a deal before the October 31st deadline is "increasingly unlikely."
"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," WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson told FOS in a statement. "Fans do not want that. They are with the players in demanding a new standard for the W."
While this year's CBA negotiations have been rocky, the inability to reach a deal in time doesn't necessarily crush the league's immediate plans.
Should they not come to an agreement, the parties will have the option to extend the original deadline in order to avoid an immediate work stoppage — so long as both the WNBA and the WNBPA sign off on the move.
There is precedent for a negotiation extension, with the WNBA and WNBPA pushing the deadline for the 2019 CBA back 60 days to allow for more time to hash out details — a move that ended in an agreement ahead of the 2020 season's free agency period.
However, the WNBA is under added pressure to turn things around.
With expansion teams in Toronto and Portland joining the league in 2026, the clock is ticking for the league to schedule and issue rules for the impending expansion draft.
Until the next CBA lays out the newly negotiated terms surrounding both expansion and free agency, the incoming Tempo and Fire will continue waiting in roster-building limbo.
Ultimately, the WNBA will do everything it can to avoid a strike, but the league will have to balance priorities as rapid growth competes with player demands.
Portland's original WNBA team name is back, with the 2026 expansion side announcing the return of the the Portland Fire moniker on Tuesday — the name held by the city's first WNBA squad from 2000 to 2002.
With details including a "Rose on Fire" emblem— a nod to Portland's "Rose City" nickname — the city-specific nods in the new logo seek to capture Portland's identity.
"[It's] an important heritage," team interim president Clare Hamill told The Athletic this week. "The opportunity to bring the Portland Fire back, reborn, was 100 percent — creatively and for the brand and for fans — the way to go."
While the team is still searching for its head coach and general manager, excitement is growing, with fans anteing up to the tune of over 10,000 season-ticket deposits since the WNBA awarded the franchise last fall.
"Portland has long stood at the forefront of women's sports, and with nearly 11,000 season ticket deposits to-date, this community has made it clear they're ready to embrace the return of women's professional basketball," said Lisa Bhathal Merage, a co-founder of RAJ Sports — the ownership group of both the WNBA team and the NWSL's Thorns. "We're proud to reignite the Portland Fire."
In addition to the Portland Fire, the Toronto Tempo will hit WNBA courts next season, with three more expansion teams in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia set to tip off in 2028, 2029, and 2030, respectively.