{"id":325763,"date":"2025-12-04T22:41:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T22:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/325763\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T22:41:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T22:41:07","slug":"bloody-battle-to-define-revenue-share-in-the-wnba-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/325763\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloody battle to define revenue share in the WNBA continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

It looked like the great CBA war was ending. Months of terse negotiations had gone quiet. The players\u2019 union and the league extended their bargaining deadline without trading public insults. Then a surprising proposal from the league leaked: They were offering players a max salary of $1 million, with a salary cap tied to league revenue.<\/p>\n

For a moment, it seemed like the breakthrough \u2014 a \u201cfundamentally different compensation structure,\u201d initial reports said.<\/p>\n

Then more details emerged. Once again, the league\u2019s revenue-sharing model looked fuzzy and withholding.<\/p>\n

Less breakthrough, more d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.<\/p>\n

The two sides still can\u2019t agree on what \u201crevenue sharing\u201d really means.<\/p>\n

In professional sports, revenue can be sliced a hundred different ways \u2014 and the definition almost always reflects whoever has better leverage. One model is the WNBA\u2019s current one: set a target above current revenue, and if the league exceeds that target, players get a cut of the excess.<\/p>\n

Pretty conservative.<\/p>\n

A slightly bolder model is what the league floated earlier this fall: count a smaller subset of revenue \u2014 media deals, sponsorships \u2014 and share a piece of that with the players.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the model used in the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB: count all league income and use around half for player salaries.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Prime Time revenue share. And it\u2019s the kind of model WNBA players are holding out for.<\/p>\n

If history is any guide, it pretty much guarantees a bloody battle.<\/p>\n

The WNBA insists they want to pay players more, but they\u2019re leaning on the same arguments owners always use to preserve power. They would return every dollar of growth to players if they didn\u2019t have to balance this against infrastructure investments, or ensure owners have a path to profitability.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a subtle undercurrent in their messaging: We\u2019re not big enough yet for Prime Time revenue share. We\u2019re too young, too small. That implication became explicit when NBA commissioner Adam Silver said as much on national TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [revenue] \u2018share\u2019 isn\u2019t the right way to look at it [for the WNBA] because there\u2019s so much more revenue in the NBA,\u201d Silver said. \u201cI think you should look at it in absolute numbers \u2026 they are going to get a big increase in this cycle of collective bargaining, and they deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The league keeps framing this as a question of scale \u2014 whether the league is big enough to share a more direct cut of its growth. But the history of Silver\u2019s own league shows the opposite: revenue-sharing has always been a question of power, not prosperity.<\/p>\n

NBA players won Prime Time revenue sharing in 1983, before the league became a global entertainment machine. Before Magic, Larry and Michael turned it into a cultural force. In 1983, NBA playoff games still aired on tape delay. Owners claimed they were losing money.<\/p>\n

Players didn\u2019t win because the league was big. They won because they built leverage.<\/p>\n

In the 1970s, they secured the right to free agency through antitrust lawsuits.<\/a> They capitalized on a rival league \u2014 the ABA \u2014 to increase their earnings. By 1983, they were prepared to strike on All-Star weekend if the league didn\u2019t meet their demands.<\/p>\n

The pattern holds across other sports and other eras. In the NFL and MLB, players won Prime Time revenue share only after years of litigation and credible strike threats.<\/p>\n

Kind of makes you wonder if WNBA players should be bolder in their messaging.<\/p>\n

Their line throughout negotiations has been: It\u2019s just business. We\u2019re not asking for anything crazy. Just pay us what we\u2019re owed.<\/p>\n

But Prime Time revenue share is always a radical demand. It cuts against the logic of ownership\u2019s other businesses, where the key to success is keeping labor costs fixed and low \u2014 and where workers wouldn\u2019t dare ask for a direct cut of the upside.<\/p>\n

So instead of Pay Us What You Owe Us, maybe the WNBA players\u2019 All-Star weekend shirts should have said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Pay Us What You Prayed You\u2019d Never Have To<\/p>\n

Or:<\/p>\n

Pay Us Against Your Capitalist Instincts<\/p>\n

Not quite as punchy \u2014 but closer to the truth.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Ajsa<\/p>\n

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Sivka is playing in Spain\u2019s top league and plans to join the Sky in 2026. She won\u2019t change the franchise, but she\u2019ll definitely knock down threes.<\/p>\n

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\"Dallas<\/p>\n

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Trammell becomes the second person on head coach Tyler Marsh\u2019s staff with WNBA head-coaching experience. <\/p>\n

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\"SKY-111324-14.jpg\"<\/p>\n

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The No. 5 selection was the most likely outcome for the Sky, who acquired the pick in a trade with the Sun last year. The Wings will draft first once again. <\/p>\n

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