LadyStanley
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Helene Elliott: WNBA at 23 has labor issues, but also a new boss and a plan to stand alone
LAT's Helene Elliot on the WNBA at 23. Players have opted out of CBA which expires after playoffs (or October 31).
Lots of issues, short term, and long. Can players demand more than the 22% of league revenue they're currently getting? Or do then really need to do more to increase revenues first?
LAT's Helene Elliot on the WNBA at 23. Players have opted out of CBA which expires after playoffs (or October 31).
The WNBA has experienced the franchise moves and failures that historically have affected sports leagues in their early years and still faces unhappy circumstances like those that have shunted the Liberty to substandard facilities, but it has come a long way as it begins its 23rd season.
It has a new logo — the silhouetted player wears her hair in a bun instead of a ponytail and has been freed from the artist’s box that confined her — and a new agreement with CBS Sports Network to go with its ESPN rights deal. After being run by four presidents, it will have a commissioner when Cathy Engelbert, chief executive of the professional services firm Deloitte, takes office on July 17. The title is significant because it puts her on par with heads of the other major North American professional sports leagues.
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The salary cap for each WNBA team is $996,100 this season. The maximum player salary is $127,500, with a minimum of $41,965. But besides higher salaries and a bigger share of revenues — Forbes has estimated players get about 22% of league revenues — Jackson said players were concerned about health and safety issues and creating a sustainable business model.
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The NBA has been patient in funding the WNBA. It can afford to be. It has deep pockets, and its losses can be written off in the name of supporting diversity. Speaking to Canada’s CBC network, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged he felt “a bit of an obligation” to keep the WNBA going. But at some point, NBA owners — his bosses — might put the bottom line ahead of sentiment.
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“Until now, I think this has been a league that has been on autopilot. That was my impression when I started in this role three years ago this month, and that’s my impression now,” said Jackson, whose son Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies was named to the All-Rookie team. “Until now, it has struck me as a league that has been understaffed, perhaps under-resourced, without an intentional plan to be great. And I say ‘until now’ because I think we are in a very different place right now.
“We may sit on opposite sides of the table — the players and I on one side, the league and the team owners on the other — but we can all agree that we can’t continue to do business like this is the league of 20 years ago or even 10 years ago. And now’s the time to turn the corner. And what better time than right now?”
Lots of issues, short term, and long. Can players demand more than the 22% of league revenue they're currently getting? Or do then really need to do more to increase revenues first?
