NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA and its players' union met for a third consecutive day Thursday, hoping to come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement.
The sides had marathon bargaining sessions over the previous two days that ended late at night. Union president Nneka Ogwumike said Wednesday night that players are “feeling movement.”
“At the end of the day, we want a season,” she said. “We want to play. We’ve heard that from the other side
as well. We need to see a more robust demonstration of that as we continue on in these negotiations.”
The sides started Thursday's discussions around 11 a.m. EDT. Nine hours later, they were still talking and had exchanged a few proposals.
The main sticking point is still revenue sharing.
Eight proposals had been exchanged over the first two days and in its final proposal Wednesday night, the league increased its salary cap offer for the first year to $6.2 million — up from $5.75 million in previous negotiations, a person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.
“Our proposal on the table is a real historic and transformational deal for these players,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “Huge gains and salaries, benefits, everything you’re seeing, but beyond that when you see the whole thing, huge, huge benefits. ... We’re proud of the deal we have on the table. I think it’s, again, huge gains for the players, while again, balancing that with the health of the league.”
Last year, the salary cap for each team was $1.5 million. Average player salaries were $120,000, and that figure stands to increase to $570,000 in the first year and $850,000 by the sixth year, according to the person. The maximum salary in the first year would be more than $1.3 million and nearly $2 million by the final year.
The league had said that at least a handshake agreement on a labor deal would need to be done by Tuesday to start the season as scheduled. Ogwumike said the union never saw the deadline from two days ago as a real thing.
“We haven’t ever really considered that as a timeline that’s been something to prioritize on our side, because we have always been negotiating in good faith,” she said.
When a deal is reached in principle, the league has said it would need a few weeks to finish off the CBA. After that work is done, the expansion draft for new franchises in Portland and Toronto would be held sometime between April 1-6, according to a timetable obtained by the AP.
Free agent qualifying offers, including franchise player tags, would be sent out April 7-8. Teams would then have three days to negotiate with the more than 80% of players who are free agents. The signing period would take place from April 12-18.
Training camps would open the next day and the season would be able to start on May 8.
But for any of that to happen, the two sides have to figure out a revenue sharing model. The union’s proposal from a week ago had asked for an average of 26% of the gross revenue — revenue before expenses — over the course of the CBA. That would include only 25% in the first year. The league has said that number was unrealistic.
The WNBA’s last few proposals have offered more than 70% of net revenue, with that number going up as the league continues to grow.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
