It isn’t hyperbole to say this round of CBA negotiations is the most pivotal moment in WNBA history. Business is booming, and the league has reached an unprecedented level of visibility. But all this forward momentum is being threatened by a nasty labor dispute. As we’ve seen in recent weeks with statements from players like Satou Sabally and the ultimate “Fuck You” manifesto that Napheesa Collier delivered to the higher-ups, specifically league commissioner Cathy Englebert, things appear to be extremely personal for the players. We all know that feelings have no place at the negotiation table. But is it even possible to separate the two when the business asks are linked to acknowledging your humanity?
I understand why the ladies are so passionate, and who can blame them. People have implored them to leave that passion out of any conversation surrounding the current predicament. As sensical as that might seem, asking them to keep it strictly business in this situation is a balancing act that would make Red Panda jealous. On the surface, I know it’s all just “revenue splits” and “Pay us more money”, but it’s more complicated than that. From the players’ perspective, it probably isn’t as simple as crunching numbers. The league brass haven’t exactly been giving the players the warm and fuzzies over the last couple of years either. It’s hard to feel like the powers that be have your best interest at heart when they’re throwing around sentiments like “We don’t want them getting used to chartered flights”. The irony of that debacle is that Joe Tsai presented a plan to the league for fully chartered travel for 3 years in 2021. I’m going to let you take a wild guess as to what the WNBA did in 2024. Yep, you guessed it. They liberated each franchise from the shackles of flying commercial. Even a performative, “We’ll work towards a long term solution while Tsai’s three year plan works itself out.” would have given them the opportunity to at least look like they gave a damn. Instead, they doubled down on the “Just be happy with scraps” mentality the players feel like the owners have operated with and rejected the idea completely. If those alleged “She should be on her knees thanking the WNBA…..” comments did indeed happen, there is some connective tissue to that line of thinking.
The prioritization rule was another proverbial slap in the face. Bringing up player pay, or lack thereof, again would be beating a horse deader than the last-place finisher at the Kentucky Derby. But it’s at the heart of this issue. Players have been vocal about only going overseas out of necessity and said they would remain stateside if they could. The league said, “We hear ya, but brush up on your Russian.” This was first introduced in 2020 when teams fined players who reported to their respective markets after training camp started. The entire notion of discouraging the ladies from going across the water for a bigger payday is bad enough. Giving them an ultimatum is worse. And digging in their pockets is top-tier scumbag behavior. And just when we thought the decision makers went full Ebenezer Scrooge, four years later, they said, “Hold my beer.” In 2024, the league modified the penalty for reporting late from a fine to missing the season altogether. It’s not lost on me that this was a compromise in the CBA so players could receive other benefits, namely, higher salaries and maternity leave but I gotta ask, if those things were available, why weren’t they simply offered before? Maternity leave and higher pay shouldn’t require a quid pro quo.
Even if you want to have a surface-level discussion and keep it at dollars and cents, the fact remains that the players have good reason to feel slighted in these talks. That “The WNBA doesn’t make any money” trope is quickly becoming irrelevant. The league has traditionally operated at a deficit. Cool. But there’s a Sam Cooke song that perfectly describes the times we’re in. Between the new TV deal and expansion fees, close to $1 billion will be pumped into the W next year. Treating the players like they’re panhandling for wanting in on that is hilarious and insulting. And trust me, I understand, man. The NBA has been subsidizing the league and covering losses for a while, and the bill was going to come due one day. Wanting a return on your investment is the backbone of any business exchange. But so is reaping the benefits of your hard work and labor. Fronting capital is cool and all, but without the stellar on-court product, marketability of the players, and the community the players have built, we can wrap this whole thing up. This league is nothing without the players, and that is not up for debate.
The ultimate disrespect is the fact that we absolutely do not have to be here. W players have been yelling from the mountaintops for real investment in the league. You have to spend money to make money. If this recent surge in advertising spending and facility upgrades had happened years ago, continued investment over time would have put the W in a much better place. But instead of a genuine commitment to growing the league, what we got was intentional sabotage. In the early 2000s, a former ESPN exec squared up with David Stern to try to get the WNBA removed from the network. The league performed well in terms of viewership when given primetime spots on ESPN and NBC, despite the claim that no one watched. Sound familiar. Buddy even bragged that he was able to get the league relegated to ESPN2. It’s taken nearly 20 years to get to the point where the league is not just a punchline but is viewed as a valuable resource worth investing in. Try to conceptualize this from the player’s perspective. You get shitted on and ignored, and then a light bulb goes off in everyone’s heads in 2024, and they magically want to put some effort into the elevation of the league, doing the exact things you said were needed from the beginning. I’d be hostile too.
And here we are, at the 11th hour. It should come as no surprise that these negotiations have become contentious. After what we’ve seen the last few years, still treating the WNBA like an unproven commodity is worthy of public stoning. Claiming poverty to justify not splitting the pot, then refusing to open the books, is downright dastardly. The relationship between the two sides has deteriorated well past “Just take our word for it.” I hope this extension isn’t an exercise in futility. Would be a shame if they just wanted to tell the players, “Hey, we still don’t think you’re worth shit.” for an extra month. The notion that some people view players wanting their just due financially as charity is laughable. The profitability of the league has never been a secret. But when the conversation shifts to the people who have made it a valuable commodity, benefiting from its growth, people who had to take Algebra twice, all of a sudden, turn into Warren Buffett. Give it a rest, man. This doesn’t have to be this hard. This would be resolved if something respectable were brought to the table. Given the fact that the ladies have dug their heels in the ground in such an emphatic way, I can only assume that it hasn’t.