LOS ANGELES \u2013 With just over a week remaining until the Jan 9 deadline for a new Women\u2019s National Basketball Association (WNBA) collective bargaining agreement, the league and the Women\u2019s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) are not close to a deal, ESPN reported on Dec 31.<\/p>\n
The report indicates that the league and players association are very far apart on a number of basic points, including what the revenue-sharing system, which the league currently does not have, could look like, what could be considered revenue and the process of accounting for expenses.<\/p>\n
The league is reportedly claiming that the latest proposal from the WNBPA \u2013 30 per cent of gross revenue for the players and a salary cap of around US$10.5 million (S$13.5 million) \u2013 would not be sustainable for the league to survive, costing the WNBA approximately US$700 million over the length of the pact.<\/p>\n
The last reported proposal from the WNBA side offered 50-plus-per cent of net revenue (revenue subtracting expenses), raising average salaries from US$120,000 to US$530,000 and max salaries from US$249,244 to US$1.3 million immediately and close to US$2 million over the course of the deal.<\/p>\n
The WNBA\u2019s proposed salary cap is US$5 million, with growth in line with revenue sharing over the deal.<\/p>\n
Just after Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier\u2019s team were eliminated from the play-offs in September, Collier, the WNBPA vice-president, called a press conference and said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was providing the \u201cworst leadership in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor too long, I have tried to have these conversations in private,\u201d Collier added. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s clear there\u2019s no intention of accepting there\u2019s a problem (with the league\u2019s officiating, in particular). The league has made it clear, it isn\u2019t about innovation. It isn\u2019t about collaboration. It\u2019s about control and power.\u201d<\/p>\n
In mid-December, the WNBA\u2019s players voted to give WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike and the executive committee the authority to potentially initiate a strike.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players have spoken,\u201d the WNBPA said in a statement. \u201cThrough a decisive vote with historic participation, our membership has authorized the WNBPA\u2019s executive committee to call a strike when necessary. The players\u2019 decision is an unavoidable response to the state of negotiations with the WNBA and its teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
The WNBA is scheduled to introduce expansion teams in Portland and Toronto in 2026 to bring its number of teams to 15. A strike, if set into motion, could affect that timeline, with the season scheduled to begin in May. REUTERS<\/p>\n
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