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Kevin Pelton
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Michael Voepel
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Michael Voepel
ESPN Senior Writer
- Michael Voepel is a senior writer who covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball and other college sports. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.
The most important action in the WNBA this season might take place off the court. The league and its players’ association (WNBPA) have begun negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) — the foundational document that defines the terms of the WNBA salary cap, roster sizes, eligibility and the length of the season, among other things — after the WNBPA opted last October to terminate the current CBA at the conclusion of this season, two years before it was scheduled to end.
This CBA, agreed to in January 2020, set the table for the WNBA’s rapid growth over the past five years, highlighted by the most-watched regular season ever on ESPN and a record for merchandise sales. After the 2024 season, the league reached new broadcast deals that will bring in substantially more revenue.
The WNBA is also expanding for the first time…
