03/16/26 01:33:00
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03/16 01:32 CDT WNBA labor talks stretch past 2:30 a.m. with no CBA deal
reached yet
WNBA labor talks stretch past 2:30 a.m. with no CBA deal reached yet
By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- The WNBA and its players' union had another marathon
negotiating session that lasted into the early morning hours Monday as they try
to reach a deal on new collective bargaining agreement.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert had said Friday night that the two sides need
to get a deal done by Monday to potentially avoid disruptions to the upcoming
season.
"Can things be 24 to 48 hours later than maybe a date that we put on a piece of
paper just to get everybody understanding there is a basketball calendar here?
Can things be 24 to 48 hours (later)? Sure," Engelbert said. "But not much more
before you start to look at, you know, can we open training camp up, you know,
that kind of stuff."
The two sides will get together again later Monday for a seventh consecutive
day of talks. It's been a long week of discussions with the WNBA and union
making face-to-face for more than 72 hours since the first in-person bargaining
session Tuesday.
Sunday's session started around noon EDT and union executive council members
Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Alysha Clark were the first to leave at 2
a.m. Nneka Ogwumike and union leadership were still in the building as well as
Engelbert and her negotiating team that included Connecticut Sun president Jen
Rizzotti.
The key sticking points have been revenue sharing and housing.
"It's very important for us to nail those two things down, which is I think the
biggest thing on the agenda today," Ogwumike, the union's president, said
Saturday between bargaining sessions. "So we want to make sure that we can get
that."
League proposals have involved net revenue --- revenue after expenses --- and
union ones have talked about gross revenue --- revenue before expenses.
When negotiations first started more than a year ago, the union was asking for
40% of gross revenue and had come down to 26% before the marathon in-person
bargaining session Tuesday. The league had been offering more than 70% net
revenue for the players.
"We've talked a lot about revenue share, which that's obviously going to be, I
don't even really like calling it the elephant in the room. Like it's there,
you know, like we're going to talk about it," Ogwumike said. "But housing is
big, you know, and housing is really big. And I think that perhaps people
understanding this negotiation or learning about it has really shown how
meaningful something like a housing benefit is, especially for the women in the
W."
Teams have paid for player housing in the WNBA since the beginning and the
league wanted to amend that in the new CBA.
"We're trying to enter into this transitional space where we are now making
enough money toward to be able to take care of that, but we're not quite at the
point where we can eliminate it outright," Ogwumike said.
Prior to the start of negotiations Tuesday night, the union had been asking for
teams to continue paying for housing for players in the first few years of the
new agreement, but in the last two years of the CBA the franchises would no
longer have to pay for housing for players that are making near the maximum
salary, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of
the negotiations.
In the same time period, the league proposed that they would continue paying
all players housing for the upcoming season and then change to only paying for
rookies housing as well as players making the minimum salary, the person said.
The league also would pay for housing of the two developmental players being
added to teams for the entire length of the CBA.
If these two major items can get figured out, the season most likely would be
able to start on time on May 8. But the clock is ticking.
The league's first two preseason games are on April 25 with Caitlin Clark and
Indiana visiting New York and Seattle playing Golden State.
"We have a fairly short preseason," Engelbert said. "We have preseason games
scheduled on April 25. That's what I first worry about. Those are some great
games."
Before the preseason games even happen, there's a lot to do with an expansion
draft for Portland and Toronto as well as free agency for 80% of the league.
The college draft also needs to take place.
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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