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For the second time in two months, the WNBA and the league’s Players’ Association announced in a joint statement that they have extended their collective bargaining agreement.

After the most recent deal was extended 60 days on Oct. 28, it was extended again Thursday, this time until the middle of January.

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

Last week, the WNBA Players’ Association re-elected the Los Angeles Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike as president and free agent Layshia Clarendon as vice president.

In 2018, WNBA players exercised their right to opt out of the CBA that was signed in 2014 and slated to run through the end of October 2021. That opt-out was set to begin at the close of the 2019 season, which ended on Oct. 10 when the Washington Mystics earned their first WNBA title by defeating the Connecticut Sun.

Issues still to be resolved

Concerns looking to be addressed by WNBA players include salaries, travel woes and player fatigue. Players take commercial flights on road trips, with the Las Vegas Aces forced to forfeit a game in 2018 after travel hiccups created a 26-hour trip to Washington.

Under new commissioner Cathy Engelbert, the league did use charter flights twice during the 2019 playoffs.

According to USA Today, the base salary for WNBA players is just above $100,000 with top players able to make more than $150,000. A number of players compete overseas in the offseason in order to maximize earning potential.

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)