{"id":203959,"date":"2025-10-05T21:56:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T21:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/203959\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T21:56:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T21:56:16","slug":"wnba-players-say-cba-negotiations-are-stalling-as-deadline-nears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/203959\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA players say CBA negotiations are stalling as deadline nears"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS \u2014 As Napheesa Collier criticized the WNBA<\/a> on Tuesday for a lack of accountability and failure to properly value its players, an important takeaway emerged: With one month remaining before the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement, players believe they are nowhere near a new deal with the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been multiple proposals that have gone back and forth, and neither is close,\u201d WNBPA<\/a> first vice president Kelsey Plum said. \u201cIt feels almost the more that we have presented, the further away we are, which is just unfortunate. But at the end of the day, I think it\u2019s just about the principle of not budging. And we have leverage, we have unity, we have a common goal, particularly in salary, and we\u2019re just not where we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the players\u2019 union opted out of the present CBA, which was set to expire in 2027. The deadline to come to a new agreement is Oct. 31. The league and union can agree to an extension, as they did in 2019. For now, the two sides remain far apart, many players said.<\/p>\n

Collier didn\u2019t alert the members of the WNBPA, or even the executive committee, ahead of her statement that criticized commissioner Cathy Englebert and the league. However, players are widely in agreement with her sentiments and the state of negotiations for the new CBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot great, not where we thought and wanted to be at this point in time,\u201d Las Vegas guard and union player representative Chelsea Gray said. \u201cWe\u2019re not where we should be or we thought we would be when we decided to opt out. \u2026 It\u2019s not anywhere where we thought it would be. It\u2019s market share, it\u2019s salaries, it\u2019s player safety, it\u2019s everything. I wouldn\u2019t say that we\u2019re where we want to be for maybe one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Players have identified revenue sharing as the primary sticking point in a new agreement. They said they aren\u2019t sufficiently benefiting from the growth of the WNBA in the current incremental revenue sharing model. Tying revenue growth to salaries will allow players to participate in the boom of the business.<\/p>\n

There are other issues of importance in the CBA, including codifying charter travel, player safety and maternity protections, among others. However, players said they will not agree to a deal that does not increase player compensation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the thing, if me and you aren\u2019t set on going to the correct restaurant, who cares what we\u2019re ordering as an appetizer?\u201d Plum said. \u201cFirst, second, third is rev share (and) salary. So when I say that we continue to propose and the counter proposals that are coming back are further away from where we thought we would be, that to me is \u2014 and I think a lot of the players are in agreement as a union \u2014 this is literally the meat and potatoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The players are directing their criticism on the lack of progress at the league\u2019s leadership, which Collier called the worst in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur league is at a spot that it hasn\u2019t been in the past 10 years. We\u2019re growing exponentially, and we need change to mirror that,\u201d Fever union representation Lexie Hull said. \u201cI think where the players see the league going is different than where leadership sees the league going, and somehow we need to see that align, and I think the CBA negotiations will hopefully get us there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the players that are driving this change, and regardless of how it\u2019s said, I think the messaging stands the same from the players\u2019 perspective,\u201d Hull added. \u201cThings need to change. The reffing needs to change. Leadership needs to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plum said she wants the league leadership to hold itself accountable. They claim to want the same growth as the players do, as Engelbert said in her response to Collier\u2019s remarks. But discussions remain \u201ccombative,\u201d Plum said, between the two sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers have answered the call in my opinion of showing up, delivering stellar performances like competitions, rivalries, and I think it\u2019s the league\u2019s turn to take that step with us,\u201d Plum said. \u201cThe way Cathy responds will say a lot about what\u2019s gonna happen in the next six months for our league.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Photo of Cathy Englebert: Michael Hickey \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 As Napheesa Collier criticized the WNBA on Tuesday for a lack of accountability and failure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[3444,438,4384,2834,4804,2839,4677,3029,1077,436,5551,4676,99,1794,8253,434],"class_list":["post-203959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-atlanta-dream","tag-chicago-sky","tag-connecticut-sun","tag-dallas-wings","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-indiana-fever","tag-las-vegas-aces","tag-los-angeles-sparks","tag-minnesota-lynx","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-phoenix-mercury","tag-seattle-storm","tag-sports","tag-sports-business","tag-washington-mystics","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}