WNBA, players’ union says new labor agreement is close

NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA and the players’ union announced Thursday that they have agreed to extend their labor agreement for two weeks as they continue to negotiate a new one.

The current collective bargaining agreement was reached in 2014. It was supposed to run through the 2021 season, but the players decided to opt out of the deal after the 2019 season. In October, the two sides extended the deadline to Dec 31.

“We are making substantial progress toward a new collective bargaining agreement which we expect to finalize soon,” the WNBA and players’ union said in a joint statement Thursday. “In the meantime, we have extended the current agreement through Jan. 15, 2020, and expect that free agency contract signings will begin on time on Feb. 1, 2020.”