WNBA CBA Talks, Day 7: ‘We’re Still Working’

MANHATTAN — Marathon negotiations between the WNBA and the WNBPA for a new collective bargaining agreement pushed into Day 7 on Monday.

Both sides shared that progress has been made, but there is still a considerable amount of work to be done.

“We’re still working,” WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said ahead of Monday’s session. “We’re still fighting. There’s still some things that we have, big-issue things that we have to get through.”

The entire WNBPA executive committee has participated in the marathon sessions. Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, Alysha Clark, Napheesa Collier, and Brianna Turner have been on site, while Kelsey Plum and Elizabeth Williams have joined via Zoom. Stewart, Clark, Collier, and Turner left Sunday’s session around 2 a.m.

Discussions continued until roughly 3 a.m. when Ogwumike, Jackson and the rest of union staff left the building. Negotiations picked back up on Monday at 2 p.m.

During a break from Friday’s session, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said a deal had to be reached by Monday to avoid disruptions to the preseason schedule. She added that there was room for talks to move “24 to 48 hours,” but not any more than that before the league has to consider whether training camp can begin on time.

At the conclusion of Sunday’s session, Engelbert expressed uncertainty regarding a delay to training camp.

“I wish I knew the answer to that,” Engelbert said. “I do not know the answer to that. But you see us here, three in the morning, four in the morning, five in the morning. So that gives an indication both sides are motivated.”

Landing a deal hinges on both sides finding alignment on a revenue share system. Throughout the negotiation process, the union has sought a share of the league’s gross revenue, while the league has offered only net revenue.

The union started by asking for 40% of gross revenue and has come down to less than 26% since these marathon negotiations began last Tuesday. The league is offering a share of net revenue that for the first time exceeds 15% of gross revenue, a source familiar with the negotiations said.

As of Monday afternoon, both sides had been meeting for nearly 90 hours over the past week. Deborah R. Willig, who has served as outside counsel for the union, said she thought a deal would have been done by now. She has “hope” that a term sheet can be agreed to in the next 15-20 hours.

“This has been an extraordinarily unusual set of labor negotiations, and I’ve been doing this for over 50 years,” Willig said. “The why, frankly, is because the league underestimate seriously the resolve of the players and what they sought to achieve.”

Willig and her partner, Jessica Caggiano, negotiated the most recent NWSL CBA for the players’ side. It was highlighted by the abolishment of the collegiate draft, the addition of guaranteed contracts, and significant compensation increases.

As the season inches closer, Jackson said players are keenly aware of the schedule and milestones attached.

“There are deadlines, arbitrary ones that the league has set, and then there’s a season schedule that has its own milestones,” Jackson said. “Absolutely, we recognize that, and we respect those. But do we also recognize that these are big-time negotiations, and so there may be a need to adjust? Absolutely. The players, more importantly, recognize that, understand that, and are prepared for it as they always have been.”