On January 14, 2020, the WNBA and the WNBA Players Association announced that a new eight-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) had been signed.[7][2] Key provisions of the new CBA include:[8][9]
The new maximum base salary, for which certain qualified players and those designated as "core players" are eligible, is $215,000, an increase from $117,500 under the previous CBA. Maximum earnings for top players can be over $500,000.
The new minimum base salary for inexperienced players is $57,000 and for experienced players is $68,000. This is an increase from $41,965 and $56,375 respectively under the previous CBA.
The "core player" designation, under which teams can retain players otherwise eligible for free agency, remains available to teams. However, while teams could designate a player as such up to four times under the previous CBA, this has been reduced to thrice in the next two seasons and twice thereafter.
Apart from those players under the "core player" designation, all players who have met contract obligations for five years become unrestricted free agents. This is a decrease from the required six years under the previous CBA.
The league will enter a 50-50 revenue sharing agreement beginning in 2021, conditional on meeting certain revenue growth targets.
For road games, players will receive "comfort/economy plus" seats rather than ordinary economy class seats, and will receive individual hotel rooms.
The league will provide a new paid maternity leave policy, where players will receive their full salaries while on leave. Players with children will be provided an annual $5,000 childcare stipend and two-bedroom apartments. Veteran players are also eligible for up to $60,000 in reimbursements for costs related to family planning.
The league will institute a new “Diversity in Coaching” initiative to build a pipeline to coaching and offer other paid employment opportunities for players during the offseason. Under the initiative, WNBA players can work on coaching staffs or in front offices of NBA teams without a salary limit, regardless of the WNBA team's ownership structure.[c]
The league will create expanded programs to address intimate partner violence and nutrition, but details about these programs were not included in the CBA.
By the sixth year of the CBA, veteran players (defined for this purpose as those with more than 2 years of WNBA experience) will face season-long suspension for missing the start of training camp. The CBA includes several exceptions to this policy, among them serious injury or illness, maternity leave, national team commitments for non-US players, college graduations, and other significant life events.
Schedule changes
The WNBA originally planned that each team would play 36 total games in the 2020 season, an increase from the 34 games played in each season since 2003. Teams were to have 18 home and road games each.[1][10]
The original 2020 season schedule featured the inaugural Commissioner's Cup, an in-season tournament. In the first half of the season between May 15 and July 10, each team would have played its first home and road games against its five conference opponents. These games would have been designated as "Cup games", and the leaders in Cup standings in each conference were would have met in the Commissioner's Cup championship game scheduled for August 14, 2020.[1][10]
The 2020 WNBA schedule originally included a traditional month-long break in July and August to allow players to participate in the Summer Olympic Games. The 2020 games were, however, postponed till 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rendering this break unnecessary.
As with most professional sports leagues, the WNBA season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 3, 2020, the WNBA announced that the start of its schedule would also be postponed.[3] The 2020 entry draft took place as originally scheduled on April 17, although it was done remotely.[3] On the originally scheduled opening day, May 15, 2020, Engelbert told ESPN that the players would get their first paychecks on June 1.[11] On June 4, ESPN reported that the WNBA was planning on a shortened 22-game regular season to be held at IMG Academy, with players receiving 60% of their salaries.[12] On June 9, The Next reported that many players were unhappy with the reduced salary, and the league revised its plans by June 12 to include full season salaries for players.[13] On June 15, the return-to-play proposal was approved.[5][14] The playoff format, which included single-elimination first and second-round games and then five-game series for the semifinals and finals, stayed the same and ended in October.[14]
In June 2019, Camille Little announced her retirement after twelve years of playing in the WNBA. She won the WNBA Title in 2010 with the Seattle Storm.[18]
In September 2019, Sancho Lyttle announced her retirement after fourteen years of playing in the WNBA. Lyttle made the WNBA All-Star game once, and twice lead the league in steals.[19]
Rebekkah Brunson announced her retirement on February 11, 2020, after fifteen years of playing professionally. Brunson stayed with the Minnesota Lynx as an assistant coach. Brunson had her jersey number 32 retired by the Lynx. Brunson finished her career as a five time WNBA Champion and five time WNBA All-Star. As of her retirement, Brunson was the active WNBA leader in rebounds.[22][23]
Carolyn Swords announced she was retiring to join the marketing team of the Las Vegas Aces on February 24, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was let go from her position and resumed her career to re-join the Aces. Over her nine-year career, she played for four different teams.[24]
Free agency
Free agency negotiations started on January 28, 2020, and the signing period began on February 10, 2020.[25]
In June 2019, it was announced that the Bankers Life Fieldhouse would undergo renovations to add an outdoor plaza and skating area. The Indiana Fever originally announced that they would play home games at the Hinkle Fieldhouse for the 2020–2022 seasons.[30] However, the entire 2020 WNBA season was moved to Bradenton, Florida, and the Fever split their 2021 season between Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
Traditionally, there is no WNBA All-Star Game during an Olympic year, such as 2020. The 2020 Tokyo games were postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the season being held at IMG Academy, the All-Star Game was not played in 2020.
The WNBA continued its current playoff format for 2020. The top eight teams, regardless of conference, make the playoffs, with the top two teams receiving a bye to the semi-finals. The remaining six teams play in two single-elimination playoff rounds, with the third and fourth seeds receiving a bye to the second round.[36]
In response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted Game 5 of their series against the Orlando Magic on August 26. Later that day, the NBA announced that in light of the Bucks' decision, all games for the day were postponed.[63] The WNBA joined the protest and postponed their three games that were originally scheduled on Wednesday: Washington Mystics vs. Atlanta Dream; Los Angeles Sparks vs. Minnesota Lynx; Connecticut Sun vs. Phoenix Mercury.[64] Games were again postponed on August 27.[65] Games resumed on Friday, August 28.[66]
^The season was originally scheduled for May 15 – September 20, and was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
^The season was originally scheduled to have 36 games per team, an increase from the 34 games played in the previous season. However, the season was shortened and delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
^This issue arose in the 2019–20 offseason when the Washington Wizards hired Mystics player Kristi Toliver as an assistant coach. Toliver could not receive a normal NBA assistant's salary because the Mystics and Wizards are owned by the same company; the previous WNBA CBA viewed such an arrangement as a way of getting around the salary cap.
A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas)