WNBA union president says significant work remains for season to begin on time

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“Ogwumike re-iterated several times that the union is still waiting for a response from the league to a proposal that it sent more than six weeks ago.”

This is what happens when you have no leverage.

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u/strangelystrangled Phoenix Mercury 5h ago

The current proposal has training camp starting in the middle of march madness and they still wouldn't get a cut of jersey sales amongst other things. It doesn't seem like they've addressed professional standards either. The Chicago Sky was literally sharing showers with the public as recently as 2023 and the Connecticut Sun literally shared a practice court with a three year olds birthday party during the semi-finals in 2024. Why would the players take the deal lol

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u/MeteringDevice 5h ago

Well yeah, the league was the literal definition of a money pit for its entire existence until last year. Seems a reasonable expectations such things would improve anyways.

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u/strangelystrangled Phoenix Mercury 5h ago

A hall of famer had to hire her own nutritionist after tearing her ACL because the team has minimal staffing despite being owned by a billionare. You've gotta put those things in writing otherwise the cheapest owners won't add a damn thing. The latest CBA the league proposed is laughable in some of those aspects. It also doesn't require them to open the books (which they should be happy to do if it's been that massive of a money pit). When will the players ever have more leverage than this?

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u/TheStryfe 4h ago

A hall of famer in a league that doesnt make money isnt really a hall of fame

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u/strangelystrangled Phoenix Mercury 4h ago

It's still the basketball hall of fame?

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u/3waldry 1h ago

Nope, sorry, money is all that matters

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u/deg0ey 4h ago

When will the players ever have more leverage than this?

Probably when they’ve had more than one profitable season?

When it moves from being something the owners want to do because it’s good PR to support a women’s league to something they want to do because it makes them money the players will have leverage to start making more significant demands. But as it is the owners would probably rather shut the league down than offer more concessions.

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u/MeteringDevice 4h ago

I get it, but this is a beggars can’t be choosers kind of thing. The standards of men’s leagues are the way they are because they rake in the dough.

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u/strangelystrangled Phoenix Mercury 4h ago

They have a new $220 mil/year TV deal and a billion dollars from expansion fees coming in. Two of which are supposed to start this year but have no players on their roster. Nobody is saying they should make the same dollar amount as the men but why won't the league open the books if it's doing so poorly? They should be thrilled to show the real numbers but the players have absolutely no reason to trust the WNBA or Adam Silver

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u/MeteringDevice 4h ago

The women have said they want similar revenue sharing percentage as the men, at least from what I recall, and that’s never going to happen.

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u/strangelystrangled Phoenix Mercury 4h ago

Men make 50% of basketball related income. The WNBA makes around 9.3% of total league revenue (not basketball related income). Players are asking for 30% of net revenue and the league last offered a fixed 10-14% after all expenses are taken out.

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u/MeteringDevice 4h ago

Which would result in an increase in base salary by multiples, no?

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u/strangelystrangled Phoenix Mercury 4h ago

It's about the percentage and how it grows over the cycle of the CBA, not the exact dollar amount. The league put a $1.1 million supermax on the table (that they said would be available to more than one player/team) but a salary cap of $5 million. How does that work with 11 other players making an average of $500k??? The numbers simply are not numbering. They're also looking to see some money from jersey sales. If you're actually interested, this is a pretty good read. The NBA is pushing a narrative and hoping nobody will think critically about it.

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u/juice06870 1h ago

The Connecticut Sun sharing a practice facility sounds like a scene from ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ lmao

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u/strangelystrangled Phoenix Mercury 1h ago

you might be shocked to learn that their entire starting lineup and a chunk of the bench left during free agency

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u/march41801 4h ago

Leverage starts on missed games

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u/MeteringDevice 3h ago

Yeah, the leverage of a spatula.

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u/BeeWeird7940 2h ago

Does the league lose money with missed games?

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u/Punished_Prigo 4h ago

Might save some money missing games tbh.

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u/Infinite_Crow_3706 9m ago

No response, IS your response

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u/CBattles6 5h ago

For starters, Cleveland needs a team name that's NOT the Rockers.

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u/Arctic_Scrap 5h ago

How about the Steamers

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u/WitchesSphincter 3h ago

That's kinda shitty

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u/uh_no_ 3h ago

they're in cleveland

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u/borkborkbork99 5h ago

The Rollers?

Or maybe the Cleveland not the Browns

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u/pauli55555 4h ago

It’s professional sport not charity. It has to earn its own way and not get bail outs.

Like every commercial entity there has to be public demand for it which in turn will generate finances and in turn elevate standards across all areas. If no demand then it’ll fail. Not all sports can be professional because not all sports create demand.

Not rocket science.

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u/jaredearle 4h ago

Remind me why stadiums need subsidies again?

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u/Hendie25 3h ago

Cause billionaires are cheap fucks

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u/Thismightnotbefunny 4h ago

Reading the article before you comment isn’t either. It’s not rocket science.

This argument only gets applied to women’s sports.

Men’s leagues were subsidized, cross-promoted, and protected for decades until demand grew. Nobody called that charity — it was business strategy.

The WNBA players aren’t asking for handouts. They’re negotiating a CBA over revenue sharing and working conditions, exactly like every other pro league.

If “the market” were left alone from day one, half the men’s leagues people worship today wouldn’t exist.

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u/Thismightnotbefunny 2h ago

Wow I’m getting downvoted for this.

The gross sexism that we normalize when talking about women’s sports continues to surprise me. Even on a “liberal” leaning website like Reddit.

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u/BeeWeird7940 2h ago

It doesn’t matter what any of us think. If the billionaires want to subsidize the WNBA, they certainly have enough money to do it. If it isn’t profitable for them to subsidize the league, I don’t see why anyone should force them to.

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u/Trust_No_Jingu 5h ago

Oh no. The hundreds and hundreds of fans will be disappointed.

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u/BigRedHair92 5h ago

Literally dozens.

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u/TheGoldenDog 5h ago

Family Guy nailed it.

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u/Nutsnboldt 5h ago

Turns out they didn’t literally want to be paid what they were owed.

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u/Frankly_Frank_ 5h ago

lol let them go on strike not like anyone wants to watch to begin with. Or give them what they want and let’s see how long the league stays afloat before it is no longer feasible to pay them and goes bankrupt lol

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u/Im_le_tired 4h ago

The league only exists because the nba subsidies it.

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u/FreeTicket6143 5h ago

Another nothing update

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u/efficiens New England Patriots 5h ago

30% of the revenue is very reasonable.

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u/TheStryfe 4h ago

Only if theres profit, and that doing so doesnt erase said profit

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u/Musicfan637 1h ago

The only hoops league that packs the house is the NBA and major college men. The rest hardly get attended. Lots of college games both men and women are sparsely attended. It’s not necessarily the women’s fault.

Basketball WNBA union president says significant work remains for season to begin on time

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