The stalemate between the WNBA and the WNBPA over a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) will likely stretch past Friday’s deadline, according the lawyer representing the players’ union.
Erin D. Drake, the senior advisor and legal counsel for the players’ union, said the WNBA and its players remain far apart on a deal during an appearance on The Athletic’s “No Offseason” podcast on Tuesday. The current CBA is set to expire on Oct. 31.
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“We have worked hard to be able to say on Friday, we did it. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen,” Drake said during her appearance. “In a dance, it takes two to tango. And it has been difficult to find a beat, to find a rhythm and to find the same sense of urgency (from the league), just to be frank, to get this done.”
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The main points of contention in the ongoing CBA negotiations are increased revenue sharing and pay structures. The players are seeking a revenue-sharing model that ensures their salaries grow with the league, while the WNBA has allegedly offered a fixed salary system and capped revenue-sharing plan.
The impasse boiled over into the headlines last week after NBA commissioner Adam Silver said “share isn’t the right way to look at it” when asked on the “Today” show if the players deserve a larger share of revenue in the WNBA.
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“You know they know it’s bad when the best they say they can do is more of the same: a fixed salary system and a separate revenue-sharing plan that only includes a piece of a piece of the pie, and pays themselves (the league) back first,” WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson said in a statement to The Athletic on Oct. 22. “We’ve come to the table prepared to do business. They’ve responded with bad math and are hoping everyone doesn’t understand what ‘uncapped’ actually means. Adam Silver said it himself on behalf of the WNBA. ‘Share isn’t the word.’ It’s not in their vocabulary.”
In return, the WNBA accused the players’ union of “making misrepresentations about our proposals.”
“It is incorrect and surprising that the Players Association is claiming that the WNBA has not offered an uncapped revenue sharing model that is directly tied to the league’s performance,” the league said in a statement to ESPN. “The comprehensive proposals we have made to the players include a revenue-sharing component that would result in the players’ compensation increasing as league revenue increases — without any cap on the upside.”
A view of the scoreboard and the WNBA logo.
On Tuesday, Drake said the WNBA and players’ union will continue to meet throughout the week as the deadline rapidly approaches, but noted that she’s “not hopeful” a new deal will be reached by Friday.
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“The players are so stalwart in their commitment to having a transformational CBA, and it’s our job to get it done,” Drake said. “We’re still going to be negotiating until we get this negotiation done. We just don’t know how long that is going to take, unfortunately.”
The league and the WNBPA could agree to an extension to allow negotiations to continue past the expiration date, which happened in 2019 before the current CBA was signed in January 2020. If the CBA expires and no extension is reached, then the league could experience a work stoppage. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert previously noted the possibility of an extension, which allows the league to operate under the current CBA for a temporary period.
“Labor peace is where we want to be, but we’re not going to get there by being taken advantage of,” Drake said. “The players aren’t going to get there by hearing, ‘maybe next time, again.’ The time is now, and we’re willing to do what needs to be done to get there and move back into the zone where we can really put on an amazing product and have people feel that their value is being reflected in the way that they are paid and the money that they’re getting.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA, players won’t agree to new CBA by deadline, WNBPA lawyer says
