WNBA Players Say ‘Pay Us’ as Commish Offers Sunny CBA Outlook

INDIANAPOLIS — WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert remains optimistic that a new labor deal will be struck, and in a press conference ahead of Saturday night’s all-star game, she sounded confident that the league will avoid a work stoppage with three months until the deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement.

A few minutes after the press conference, the WNBA All-Stars had a message of their own on T-shirts as they warmed up for the mid-season contest. “Pay Us What You Owe Us,” the shirts read. Before the game was into the fourth quarter, versions of the shirts, officially licensed by the WNBPA, were for sale online.

Engelbert downplayed the tension between the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) during the press conference on Saturday night. The league’s top executive says labor talks have been “constructive” and suggested that there are options to extend the deadline beyond the Oct. 31 expiry date.

“We want the same things that the players want,” Engelbert said. “We want to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners their ability to have a path to profitability as well as continued investment.”

While Engelbert was painting a rosier picture of the state of labor talks, players led by WNBPA president and Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike wore their stark message on their warm-up shirts. It was the latest illustration of the distance between management and the union on how to distribute a sudden influx of league-wide revenue, as the game enjoys surging popularity and commercial opportunities, even as most teams are still losing money.

“You see tens of millions of dollars are being invested in practice facilities and other player experiences by teams,” Engelbert said. “We want to strike the right balance between the two, and that will continue, because that’s helped with our hyper-growth.”

At the center of the labor fight is the union’s demand for a revamped revenue sharing system, with players seeing a greater percentage of league revenue. Engelbert said the next model will be “much more lucrative,” since the league is in a “better place” than when the last accord was struck in 2020.

But players have stated the recent proposals from league were far from the “equitable” system that they’re seeking.

Engelbert’s comments followed Thursday’s CBA meeting in Indy, which saw more than 40 players attend including Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. While the session drew a historic turnout of both committee and non-committee members, the crowded room of players, officials and executives likely hindered progress in the negotiations.

“We had candid dialogue,” Engelbert said. “This is part of the process. … I want to say that I really respect the players for listening to our owners, and we … want to make sure that we’re setting up this league for decades.”

Clark, who participated in Thursday’s meeting along with several other next-generation WNBA stars, continued to show solidarity with the union on Saturday night.

“We should be paid more,” said Clark, who was sidelined from weekend festivities with a right groin injury. “And hopefully that will be the case moving forward as the league continues to grow. That’s probably the most important thing.”

WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said she was “very pleased” with how players presented their case during the Thursday meeting. The session, which served more as a statement to show the union’s collective commitment than a typical bargaining meeting, was described by Jackson as “the biggest of their careers,” although it turned out to be “more of the same” as talks appear to be stalled.

The WNBPA decided to opt out of its current CBA last October. The league is experiencing unprecedented growth across nearly every business metric, including ticket sales and viewership. Buoyed by $2.2 billion from new media rights deals set to kick in next year, the 13-team league plans to expand to 18 franchises by 2030.

The state of negotiations was one of the main topics of conversation during player media availability on Friday. Several players who were in the meeting, including WNBPA vice president and Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, chimed in on the sense of urgency the union is feeling after the latest proposals sent from the league left players unimpressed.

“We’re standing firm on certain areas that we feel really strongly that we need to improve on,” Collier said on Saturday night. “And I think we got that message across.”