WNBA, players’ union have ‘spirited conversations’ in next step toward CBA

INDIANAPOLIS — A record number of players attended Thursday’s meeting between the WNBA and WNBPA as part of the next step in collective bargaining negotiations. The group of more than 40 players included union leadership, like Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, and Napheesa Collier, as well as young stars such as Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers.

Weeks removed from receiving a counterproposal from the WNBA that frustrated players, WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson said that players “had spirited conversations” with the league about revenue sharing, among other topics.

When asked if the meeting was successful, Jackson said, “Negotiations are hard. They have hard conversations. … That’s what today was, no different from any other negotiation.”

Jackson said another meeting is scheduled “soon,” though she did not specify a date or location. Thursday’s meeting lasted a couple of hours, and Jackson said that players sacrificed opportunities for paid appearances to be in attendance.

“I think we’re on track to get back to meeting, and conversations that lead us to a CBA,” Jackson said.

“What we heard from the league more than once, maybe three times, was ‘We hear you, we’re listening.’”

As players trickled out of the meeting on their way to the All-Star orange carpet, they declined to speak about the tenor of the negotiations. However, some discussed their reflections on the meeting at the All-Star weekend kickoff event.

“I think there was engagement,” Ogwumike, a star for the Seattle Storm and the president of the WNBPA, told The Athletic. “I think there were conversations that will start to roll the ball on where we’re going to head in this negotiation.”

Added Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, who is the first vice president of the WNBPA: “We have a long way to go. We’re gonna use this weekend to show our value and our worth and continue to be united because we do deserve more.”

The league did not provide a comment regarding the meeting.

The WNBPA received its first counterproposal from the league in the last week of June. Players said they submitted the first version of a proposal during the first week of February but waited months to hear a formal response, which added to the importance of Thursday’s meeting, the first since December that included players in person.

“I think for the league to hear the players’ perspective definitely goes a long way,” Stewart, a New York Liberty star and vice president of the WNBPA said. “The way I would describe it, if I could give a summary, is we’re a work in progress.”

Ogwumike said earlier this month that she felt the league gave off an impression that “players don’t understand the business.”

“(WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert) has told me that to my face,” she said earlier this July. “I communicated that to the players and I said, ‘OK, let’s demonstrate that we do understand the business, especially as we’re going back and forth in negotiations.”

Engelbert left the building in which the meeting was held just under four hours after it began.

For multiple players on the WNBPA executive committee, a key hangup was a league proposal regarding revenue sharing. While players did not disclose the fixed revenue percentage that the league proposed, players expressed frustration that it would limit their ability to grow with the league itself.

“I don’t know that I’m going to say progress,” Jackson said, when asked if they made progress on revenue sharing talks. “But we had spirited conversations.”

The league’s current CBA, which was agreed to in January 2020 and runs through Oct. 31, created significant shifts in the league. Groundbreaking maternity benefits and a notable jump in maximum player salaries were among the major shifts; however, much has changed around the WNBA since. The WNBA continues to routinely achieve record or near-record TV broadcast ratings, with a new 11-year, $2.2 billion TV deal set to go into effect next season. The league recently announced three expansion teams — in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia — set to debut in 2028, 2029 and 2030, respectively, all set to enter the league at a record $250 million expansion fee.

“From what we can tell, the trends are pretty good when it comes to the financial side of things, and we’re not unreasonable in understanding the business for us to be able to negotiate with somebody that reflects our values,” Ogwumike said earlier this month.

In a statement provided after Thursday’s meeting, the WNBPA said that, “The only thing more unsustainable than the current system is pretending it can go on forever. It’s not complicated. We are committed to the fight.”

The Athletic’s Hannah Vanbiber contributed to this story.

(Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski / Imagn Images)

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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