Before the paid appearances, fashion moments and boozy parties, WNBA players are huddling up for a critical collective bargaining meeting ahead of the All-Star Game in Indianapolis.
On Thursday afternoon, Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) committee and non-committee members—including Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark—will meet with league officials as both sides seek to get closer to agreeing to a new CBA. The reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year told reporters before Tuesday’s game against the Connecticut Sun that she felt it was important to attend the meetings despite not being a team rep and it only being her second season.
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“This is a very important time for our league and where it’s going to continue to grow,” Clark said. “I’m certainly looking forward to those meetings and being in them, and I think everybody in our league is here to help these CBA talks continue to move forward.”
This will be Clark’s first in-person involvement in CBA discussions opposite league officials, and her presence this week suggests a level of solidarity between players that will be important as negotiations advance. Clark, whose status for All-Star activities remains questionable after suffering a right groin injury, is one of the key catalysts behind the league’s recent surge in popularity so her confirmed participation is noteworthy.
WNBPA officials have had regular meetings with the league since players opted out of the current CBA last October, but this will be the first collective in-person meeting since December. This will be the first time that all players on the WNBPA executive committee will be attending. The parties remain far apart after exchanging proposals over the last few months; the players received a counter-proposal last month that left them unimpressed.
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WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike, hammering out her third CBA since being elected into the role in 2016, said previous CBA meetings during midseason breaks were productive. The Seattle Storm star is hopeful the outcome will be the same this year. If not, both sides risk entering the second half of the season in a stalemate with the Oct. 31 deadline for a new deal approaching.
“I can’t really tell you what the timeline is going to be,” Ogwumike said earlier this month at the Barclays Center in New York. “Things change, with so many different conversations and negotiations. … Perhaps my answer will be different after the meeting in Indy.”
Over the last few weeks, players have been vocal about their frustration with the league’s most recent proposal, which resembled a similar revenue sharing system that’s included in the current CBA, according to a source familiar with negotiations. The current model pays players 50% of all incremental revenue, defined as a percentage of league earnings that exceed set growth targets.
Almost every labor negotiation has a level of tension between players and owners, but the current WNBA one is unique in several ways. Team values have exploded, up 180% year-over-year to an average of $269 million in Sportico’s WNBA valuations. But the reality is that most W teams still lose money, and the losses will likely continue into the next CBA.
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For nearly 25 years, the WNBA was a league where owners stomached annual losses with minimal revenue growth, and capital investments were rare. That mindset is gone—owners are sinking money into new facilities and added employee headcount. Expenses also jumped at the league level, including the charter flight plan that costs $25 million per year.
Teams will get a bump in 2026 from the new TV deals, which are expected to generate an average of $260 million a year, but not all central revenue trickles down to the clubs. WNBA owners and NBA owners each own 42% of the league, and the 2022 investment consortium owns the remaining 16%.
This impasse is expected to be at the center of conversations on Thursday. The union is also aiming to soften the current hard salary cap—another point of contention for WNBA owners.
Phoenix Mercury star Satou Sabally announced on Instagram stories on Wednesday she won’t be playing in the All-Star Game to recover from an ankle injury. But the CBA committee member did say she will still be participating in Thursday’s meeting, which she called “the most important part of the weekend.”
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WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson previously said that she wanted to have significant progress made before the All-Star weekend. Several players though have admitted that they expected negotiations would be further along at this point. The talks could set the tone for the rest of the weekend, which is slated to be the biggest yet in terms of sponsorship value and social media buzz, according to data projections provided by sports data firm Two Circles.
WNBA players, including rising stars like Angel Reese, have spoken about the possibility of a work stoppage if a new deal doesn’t arrive by the deadline. Both sides are hoping to avoid a lockout which could slow momentum as the league’s new $2.2 billion media deals are set to kick in, along with the addition of two new franchises in Toronto and Portland.
Expansion is a source of mutual hope for how the league and players can progress. News of the WNBA adding Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia with a $250 million expansion fee for each market was welcomed by the union, according to Ogwumike, who feels like the timely announcement only provides more leverage moving forward.
“The way teams are operating, the investments coming in and the star players coming in from college are bridging the gap [seen] with the fan engagement we’re experiencing,” she said. “It is all contributing to our growth and we want to make sure that’s reflected in the players that make up this league.”
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