NEW YORK – The WNBA players union and league officials have much to discuss when they sit down this week for their first in-person talks as a group since December about the new collective bargaining agreement.
After sharing initial proposals, the two sides apparently are far apart in the early negotiations as they prepare for their first face-to-face meeting that includes the players executive council in Indianapolis on Thursday heading into All-Star weekend.
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“We got a proposal from the league, which was honestly a slap in the face,” Phoenix Mercury forward and union rep Satou Sabally said.
Increased salaries, revenue sharing and roster size are three areas where the union expect to see major changes from the current CBA that will expire at the end of this season after the players decided to opt out last year. Nearly all the players who aren't on rookie scale contracts right now will be free agents after this season and looking for big salary increases.
Union president Nneka Ogwumike, who has now been a part of three CBA negotiations, is optimistic that Thursday's meeting could be beneficial for both sides since it's in-person. The two sides have had meetings over the last few months, but this will be the first time that all the players on the executive council will be there.
Ogwumike said “when you’re doing things via documents, when you’re doing things via proxy, whether it’s ... our union staff and league staff," it's different. But "when you’re sitting at the table, things a lot of times, in my experience, you get done a little bit more efficiently.”
The WNBA is experiencing unprecedented growth across nearly every business metric from attendance and viewership. There’s also the new $2.2 billion media rights deal that will start next season and the league plans to expand to 18 teams by 2030 with each of the three new teams paying $250 million expansion fee.
“It’s interesting that there’s a $250 million expansion fee, and there’s no openness to have that be reflected in revenue share that goes to the players, especially as we’re experiencing growth,” Ogwumike said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but we’re hoping we can get some clarity on that in Indiana.”
Ogwumike said the players had submitted a proposal back in February that the league finally responded to last month. She was surprised it took so long for the league to respond with its proposal, saying that it seemed that the league misunderstood the union’s initial offer.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said at the draft in April that the union’s initial proposal wasn’t comprehensive, but that she also is optimistic that a deal would get done.
“We’ll get something done and it’ll be transformational," she said. ”These things take time.”
The key thing for the commissioner is that the new CBA protects the sustainability of the league going forward.
“We want to have a fair deal for all, but it has to be within the confines of a sustainable economic model that goes on for 10 years,” she said. “We’ve had a few years of great growth … but we need to continue to make sure that we can fund the things that the players are asking for, that we want for them, too.”
If a deal isn’t done by the end of October, some players, including Napheesa Collier and Angel Reese, have mentioned the potential of a walkout.
“From the players’ perspective, it’s hard to be able to navigate this during the middle of the season, but also we know how important it is and really getting it done before the end of October and we’re making that effort to be able to do both,” union vice president Breanna Stewart said. “The fact that it’s been a little bit slow to start is tough, but hopeful things will ramp up now after getting their proposal back. We have a big meeting in Indy at All-Star and it’s going to be spicy.”
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