The WNBA season will wrap up in about a month, an ending that will be followed by playoff games and ultimately a championship match — and then the hard work of renegotiating the Collective Bargaining Agreement will truly begin.
Salary increases and revenue sharing are not the only demands from members of the WNBA's union (the WNBPA), but they are at the heart of the argument in favor of reconstructing the agreement originally signed in January 2020. The league's players took advantage of the attention focused on the All-Star Game in July to raise awareness of their fight; members of both teams took to the court ahead of the match while wearing shirts that boldly read, "Pay us what you owe us."
Revenue sharing is a key part of the conversation
WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN in a report published last week that revenue sharing remains the union's top priority. "The players are still adamant that we get a percentage of revenue that grows with the business, which perhaps includes team revenue, and that's just a part of the conversation," she explained.
Ogwumike also said the league has proposed a model similar to what players agreed to in 2020. But that logic is flawed; the current CBA was signed before the COVID-19 pandemic and based on revenue targets constructed in January 2020. Those targets weren't met that season, which was played in a bubble in Florida, or the year after.
The league has suggested "a system that includes revenue that would grow with the business" which makes sense from their perspective, she added, but "ultimately if you look at the growth of the business, the money relative to the percentage of everything is virtually staying the same." According to ESPN, the latest proposal from the league could raise top salaries from $249,244 to at least $1 million.
The WNBA has never been so popular
But there's still a major point of contention: WNBA teams have exploded in terms of popularity and value, something that hasn't escaped the attention of the players. Valkyries owner Joe Lacob paid a $50 million expansion fee when the team was accepted into the league — this year, investment groups from Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Detroit paid $250 million each.
Teams that are already in the WNBA are also just flat-out worth more now. The Aces — who were bought for $2 million only four years ago — now have an estimated value of $310 million, the outlet also noted.