The GIST: ICYMI, the WNBA and its players association agreed to a six-week collective bargaining agreement (CBA) extension on Sunday. One day later, the league dropped its latest proposal…and raised a whole lot of eyebrows.
💰 Seven-digit salaries remain in latest proposal: Player compensation has been a sticking point throughout negotiations, but the proposed $1.2M max total salary, which is inclusive of projected revenue sharing, would match the WNBPA’s pay expectations. Under this proposal, next year’s average salary would exceed $500K, while the salary cap would increase from $1.5M to $5M.
These marks inch closer to what players have been asking for, but the newest proposal still doesn’t address the WNBPA’s request for a revenue sharing model that more closely resembles the equal split in the NBA.
👀 The real buzz surrounds two proposed changes that would redefine league operations:
🏠 Player housing: Those lucrative salaries could come at a cost as the league proposed axing team-provided player housing, a WNBA requirement since 2016. In a league with lots of turnover, this decision would disproportionately affect “bubble” players, who make less money than their superstar peers and might play in multiple cities over the course of a season.
📅 Earlier start date: Training camps typically start in April, an already tight turnaround for college hoopers. The league’s proposal featured a start date as early as mid-March, smack dab in the middle of March Madness, meaning rookies would have even less time to recover and could potentially miss some of the season.
⏩ What’s next: Negotiations will continue ahead of the extended January 9th deadline with the WNBPA expecting “substantive movement from the league,” as stated following Sunday’s extension. Watching, waiting…