NEW YORK — The WNBA and its players’ union have a verbal agreement on the phrases of a transformational new collective bargaining agreement pending approval from the league’s Board of Governors and players with the expectation of beginning the season on time.
Specifics nonetheless should be labored out over the subsequent few weeks. The deal is anticipated to significantly improve participant salaries with a good likelihood for million greenback players — a first for the league coming into its thirtieth season.
“I just want to say we have aligned on key elements of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement together. We still need to finalize a formal term sheet, but the progress made in these discussions marks a transformative step forward for players and the league,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert mentioned. “It underscores a shared commitment to the continued growth of the game. So, we’ll share additional details as they become available.”
The deal got here after the 2 sides spent the previous eight days in intense in-person negotiations that lasted for greater than 100 hours. They got here to the agreement at about 2:23 a.m. Wednesday after spending greater than 10 hours negotiating on Tuesday.
“This is historical for women’s sports. I told Cathy it’s not just for the players that are entering the league or the players that aren’t already here,” union president Nneka Ogwumike mentioned. “We’re just really grateful to be able to come to a deal. We’re proud of ourselves.”
Revenue sharing has been the most important hurdle over the course of the negotiations and now that a deal is lastly completed there’s a actually good likelihood that there can be a million greenback participant.
Now, the league will have a dash over the subsequent two months to get the season began on time. An enlargement draft for new groups in Toronto and Portland must happen. Also, groups might want to negotiate with the greater than 80% of players who’re free brokers this offseason.
Training camps would open in late April, and the season would start on May 8.