WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has indicated a number of occasions that the brand new collective bargaining settlement will probably be “transformational.”
However Engelbert remained mum when requested Monday as to what particularly could be a “fair” deal within the league’s eyes.
The Ladies’s Nationwide Basketball Gamers Affiliation has been very clear about what its prime priorities are for the brand new deal as the present collective bargaining settlement is about to run out after the 2025 season.
Gamers are preventing for greater wages, a brand new financial mannequin and improved advantages.
However Engelbert handed on the prospect to say the place the league stands.
“We’re not going to negotiate in the media, we’re going to negotiate with players across the bargaining table, so I’m not going to comment on specifics other than we’ve been building a new economic model, quite frankly, leading women’s sports to build that model with our new media rights deals with all that corporate partnerships,” Engelbert mentioned. “So yes we want to have a fair deal for all but it has to be within the confines of a sustainable economic model that goes on for 10 years.”
Engelbert famous the WNBA coughed up greater than $20 million to produce constitution flights to all groups for the primary time this season.
The league is coming off a record-breaking season with fan engagement and TV viewership. However Engelbert mentioned that progress has to proceed.
“We’ve had a few years of great growth… but we need to continue to make sure that we can fund the things that the players are asking for, that we want for them, too,” Engelbert mentioned. “We all want the players to make more money, that will happen. We’ll do something transformational but again, nothing to report exactly today because we’re not that far into negotiations to report any specifics.”
Engelbert mentioned negotiations stay ongoing. She mentioned the gamers union “recently” despatched a proposal to the league and the 2 sides plan to fulfill on the bargaining desk within the close to future.
“I’m very optimistic that we’ll get something done,” Engelbert mentioned, “and it’ll be transformational.”
Engelbert addressed a number of different hot-button subjects throughout her 22-minute availability Monday night time:
On particulars of Paige Bueckers’ Unequalled contract
On the eve of the WNBA draft, prime decide Bueckers signed a three-year cope with Unequalled that can pay her extra within the first 12 months than her total rookie contract with the WNBA.
Bueckers is about to be paid $78,831 for her first WNBA season and $348,198 over the course of 4 seasons.
It wasn’t information that Bueckers signed a multi-year cope with Unequalled, however relatively that she’ll be compensated extra handsomely by a startup league that runs for 10 weeks than by the WNBA, which has been round for almost 30 years.
Engelbert didn’t tackle Bueckers’ wage particularly when requested. She mentioned she was “really proud” of what Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart have executed with Unequalled and had supported the league, even attending a couple of video games in February.
“We’ll have, by [the] time we get done with 16 teams, over 190 players we need to take care of, so I know it’s a lot easier to do 30 in one spot,” Engelbert mentioned. “What the WNBA provides is a large platform to our gamers round their company companions round activating. … I believe right this moment, not one sporting occasion the place you don’t see an advert spot with a WNBA participant in it. I believe it’s fairly cool, whether or not it’s State Farm or Nike.
“We support and we are thrilled with the momentum we have coming off the NCAA season coming off Unrivaled, but certainly thrilled with the viewership we have and the momentum we have and the capital coming into our league as well and the investments our owners are making.”
On growth
Engelbert mentioned the WNBA is “still on track” to develop to 16 franchises by 2028.
Engelbert didn’t have any additional particulars on growth and its timeline. She mentioned the WNBA continues to be evaluating potential markets with the assistance of an out of doors banker.
“Just evaluating whether it is more than one, quite frankly,” Engelbert mentioned. “So we’ve got to put all that together, you don’t want to de-rate the quality of the game already going to 16. We’re adding 33% additional roster spots by adding 48 roster spots to a league of 144, so we’re in the process of evaluating all of that.”
The WNBA added the Golden State Valkyries as its thirteenth franchise this season, and Portland and Toronto are anticipated to hitch the league in 2026.
Potential locations for the league’s sixteenth franchise embrace Denver, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Nashville.
On addressing participant abuse
Engelbert mentioned the league has ramped up its efforts this offseason to fight hate directed at gamers and league personnel after a number of high-profile incidents made gamers really feel unsafe final season.
Engelbert mentioned the WNBA has adopted a four-pronged strategy to fight hate that features monitoring social media, implementing fan conduct requirements at arenas, improved safety measures and persevering with to have psychological well being clinicians obtainable to gamers.
Engelbert additionally talked about the WNBA has a job pressure that can proceed to observe the difficulty transferring ahead.
“There’s no space for hate,” mentioned Engelbert, who additionally mentioned AI developments will assist the league tackle cyberbullying. “I think there is just a continuing drain on all of us, on players, on staff, staff at our teams … just continued unaccountability for people who type things on social media and our players are digital natives. … And they take everything very hard, and it’s a toll on them.”
