{"id":367430,"date":"2025-12-25T05:22:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T05:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/367430\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T05:22:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T05:22:22","slug":"why-housing-is-an-issue-in-wnba-cba-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/367430\/","title":{"rendered":"Why housing is an issue in WNBA CBA negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"play\"<\/p>\n

Dallas Wings could choose Azzi Fudd in WNBA Draft<\/p>\n

As Dallas weighs options for top pick in WNBA Draft, USA TODAY’s Meghan Hall breaks down how UConn’s Azzi Fudd could help the Wings shine.<\/p>\n

Sports Seriously<\/p>\n

The ongoing negotiations between the WNBA and WNBA Players Association for the league\u2019s future\u00a0have seen some big numbers, but\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a downside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The league has proposed a seven-figure base max salary as part of a new collective bargaining agreement, but team housing has been removed from proposals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the CBA talks have continued, many WNBA players have been reporting to Unrivaled, a domestic 3-on-3 league, which was\u00a0established\u00a0by\u00a0players\u00a0Napheesa\u00a0Collier and Breanna Stewart to provide a better offseason playing opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Us being here\u00a0in\u00a0December and January until March, it’s a crucial time in the CBA,” Collier said. “So many things need to happen\u00a0in\u00a0that time. Because of that, having us all in one place is beneficial. Things are going to\u00a0get\u00a0done.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Collier emphasized that revenue sharing and salary structures are the two biggest points that\u00a0players will talk about, but the other points are\u00a0also\u00a0important.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Latest CBA news: WNBA players’ union votes for potential strike amid labor talks<\/a><\/p>\n

How WNBA housing works\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since\u00a0the first CBA in\u00a01999, the WNBA has\u00a0been required\u00a0to provide in-season housing\u00a0from\u00a0the regular season through the playoffs, in addition to training camp accommodations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The last CBA\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0have a set limit for what teams can spend on housing, but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0obviously a massive financial undertaking. Players can either choose to live in team-provided housing or\u00a0receive a monthly stipend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The majority\u00a0of players\u00a0rely on team housing rather than choosing the stipend, per ESPN<\/a>. Given how often WNBA players move, whether\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0playing overseas or training in a different area,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not surprising.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The stipend varies best on the team’s market.<\/p>\n

The Mercury\u2019s estimated stipend is $1,471, making it the\u00a0seventh-highest\u00a0of the 12 available figures from teams. The Golden State Valkyries\u2019 figures were unknown\u00a0in the report,\u00a0as the team joined the WNBA after the negotiations of the latest CBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York has the highest cost of living, and the highest stipend of $2,647, while Las Vegas has the lowest stipend of $1,177.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, teams can still spend more than the stipend limit to secure housing, but the housing has to align with what\u2019s allowed in the CBA and can\u2019t be excessive.\u00a0If a player wants to upgrade her housing, she can pay the team the difference in cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The accommodations can extend into the offseason as players who are rehabbing an injury sustained during the season\u00a0can live in team-provided housing. Players\u00a0who are paid to market the team during the offseason\u00a0can also exercise this option.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why housing\u00a0is important\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many WNBA players live out of their suitcases because teams carry a maximum\u00a0of 12 players on their roster.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some teams\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0even have 12 players due to salary cap constraints, which puts them in a bind. With so few roster spots and no two-way contracts like in the NBA, injuries\u00a0can derail teams, who then bring in players on hardship contracts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those players are often\u00a0there\u00a0until the team reaches the\u00a0minimum\u00a0number of 10 available players, which means that it would create a hardship to sign a lease in a city\u00a0they\u2019ll\u00a0be in for a few weeks. Nor should they sign another lease when another team\u00a0likely picks\u00a0them up in the same season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aside from players on hardship contracts, unprotected players can move easily since teams\u00a0can protect only six contracts per season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

If a player signs an unprotected contract in free agency, moves to that team’s city, and is cut, the player\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0receive their entire contract salary.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is also a consideration on the part of owners. Some teams could lose a competitive advantage.\u00a0If housing is taken out of the equation, markets with higher rent, like New York\u00a0and\u00a0San Francisco,\u00a0might be at a disadvantage as a greater percentage of the free agent contract would go to rent compared to a market like Indianapolis or Las Vegas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more: Top 5 memories for 2025 bring Skattebo, Suarez, Cardinals into the mix<\/a><\/p>\n

Do other leagues provide housing?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Housing\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0provided in the top tier of other sports.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NFL provides housing during minicamps, while the NBA reimburses players for housing costs after a trade.\u00a0MLS teams have discretionary funds that can be used to support player lodging, but\u00a0it’s\u00a0not a requirement. The NHL actually prohibits teams from paying for offseason housing in-market. Both NBA G-League and MLB minor league players are provided housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For other major women\u2019s sports leagues, housing is a key topic.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the Professional Women’s Hockey League, players receive a fixed stipend\u00a0that began with\u00a0$1,500 in 2023\u00a0and is\u00a0rising by $100 per year. Athletes Unlimited provides housing for all players in its softball,\u00a0basketball\u00a0and volleyball leagues, as does Unrivaled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

National Women’s Soccer League teams\u00a0have historically provided housing for players, but the newest CBA ratified in 2024 phases out that requirement by 2027, with some stipulations for players whose salaries\u00a0haven’t\u00a0risen to a specific level\u00a0or\u00a0who play in more expensive markets to continue to receive stipends.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What can happen<\/p>\n

If housing isn’t included in the CBA, and it’s not prohibited, it could be up to individual teams to decide whether they provide accommodations for players.<\/p>\n

Much like upgraded practice facilities, it could create another competitive advantage for teams.<\/p>\n

Reach the reporter at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com<\/a>, as well as @jennarortiz<\/a>\u00a0on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now<\/a>. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters<\/a>\u00a0so you\u00a0don’t\u00a0miss a thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Wings could choose Azzi Fudd in WNBA Draft As Dallas weighs options for top pick in WNBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[461,49,48,8891,1571,1327,1342,47,2349,2034,44,1333,2042,82,865,1320,1335,630,4134,4143,5368,11932],"class_list":["post-367430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-basketball","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-issues","tag-labor","tag-modular","tag-modular-story","tag-national","tag-national-sports","tag-neutral","tag-news","tag-overall","tag-overall-neutral","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-story","tag-u0026","tag-wnba","tag-womens","tag-womens-sports","tag-work","tag-work-u0026-labor-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}