The WNBA has experienced explosive growth across TV ratings, attendance, sponsorships, revenue and franchise values. It has been a boon for the league’s stakeholders, and now players want their share after players opted out of the current CBA at the end of 2024.

One negotiating point: soaring expansion fees.

“It’s interesting that there’s a $250 million expansion fee, and there’s no openness to have that be reflected in revenue share that goes to the players, especially as we’re experiencing growth,” Nneka Ogwumike, WNBPA president, said in an interview with the Associated Press this week. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but we’re hoping we can get some clarity on that in Indiana.”

Expansion fees in the biggest North American sports leagues are typically split among existing owners. The calculus is trickier in the WNBA, as their governors own only 42% of the league; the NBA holds another 42% of the league and the remaining 16% belongs to a 2022 investment consortium. Expansion dilutes solely the 42% held by WNBA teams and not the share held by the NBA or investors, as Sportico reported in March.

More than 40 players attended Thursday’s meeting between the PA and league in Indianapolis, with everyone on-site for WNBA All-Star weekend. Both the league and union have talked about a transformational CBA, but the WNBPA has clearly been underwhelmed by the WNBA’s counters.

“The WNBA’s response to our proposals fails to address the priorities we’ve voiced from the day we opted out: a transformational CBA that delivers our rightful share of the business we built, improves working conditions, and ensures the success we create lifts both today’s players and the generations that follow,” the WNBPA said in a statement after the talks.

If the WNBA is looking to get a piece of the expansion fees, it would be more than transformational; it would be unprecedented. The NBA, NFL and NHL have strict language about expansion fees in their CBAs when it comes to calculating revenue that helps shape their payroll ranges. The fees are excluded in each case in systems the WNBA wants to mirror, where players are entitled to a percentage of overall revenue, versus their current plan of sharing only “incremental” revenue. MLB does not have a salary cap tied to revenue, so its CBA avoids the subject of who is entitled to share in expansion fees.

The CBAs for the NWSL and MLS also do not address expansion fees. Those leagues assign salary cap values—MLS uses salary “budget”—through the terms of the deal. The caps in both leagues can increase if incremental revenue goals are reached.

The NBA, NFL and NHL are all much more mature leagues than the WNBA. The only franchises added during the past 20 years were two NHL teams: the Vegas Golden Knights in 2016 and Seattle Kraken in 2021. So, expansion fees are not exactly front of mind in those labor negotiations, although the NBA is now considering whether it wants to launch an expansion process that would potentially net owners more than $10 billion for two teams.

In the WNBA, Golden State and Toronto were awarded teams in late 2023 and May 2024 for $50 million fees; Portland was also added in 2024 for a $75 million fee. Last month, the league selected three expansion cities where owners each paid $250 million. Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia will launch one at a time between 2028 and 2030. It will push the league from 12 teams in 2024 to 18 teams.

MLS is the closest recent comp to the pace of expansion the WNBA is going through. MLS expanded to 13 teams in 2007 when Toronto FC started play after it paid a $10 million fee. By 2015, the league had 20 teams, and the fee was $100 million. San Diego paid $500 million and started play this year as MLS’ 30th team.

Like MLS, the WNBA was launched as a single-entity structure. Both leagues have moved toward traditional structures of individually owned teams. The regular MLS expansion at rising prices helped owners cover operating losses and also provided capital for owners to invest in their facilities, with 19 soccer-specific stadiums opened since 2007. The WNBA is in the middle of its facilities arms race.

“It’s not complicated,” the union’s statement said. “We are committed to the fight. We are committed to returning to the negotiating table. And we will not stop until we achieve the transformational CBA this moment demands.”