Latest news with #labornegotiations
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘They're absolutely underpaid': Economists weigh in on WNBA labor showdown
They chatted over breakfast the morning of the WNBA all-star game. Some of the players who have led the fight to overhaul the WNBA's financial structure held an impromptu meeting early last Saturday to air out their frustrations over how labor negotiations with the league had stalled. Out of that conversation came the idea for a bold new approach to the WNBA's labor standoff. Players decided that it was time to stop bargaining primarily behind closed doors and to instead bring their message to the masses. Later that same day, players union leaders gave every WNBA all-star a black T-shirt with the slogan 'Pay Us What You Owe Us' emblazoned in white letters across the front. The all-stars unanimously donned those shirts during pregame warmups in front of a sellout crowd of nearly 17,000 and millions more viewers watching from home on ABC. 'The players are what is building this brand,' all-star game MVP and players union vice president Napheesa Collier said Saturday. 'We feel like we're owed a piece of that pie that we helped create.' Collier's comments come at a time of unprecedented growth for the WNBA, accelerated by the popularity of Caitlin Clark and other recent high-profile college stars. The league had a record 2024 season with historic viewership, attendance and merchandise sales. Expansion teams will debut in Toronto, Portland, Philadelphia, Detroit and Cleveland over the next five years. In 2026, the league will begin an 11-year media rights deal worth a reported $2.2 billion. Eager to cash in on that influx of revenue, the players union opted out of its collective bargaining agreement with the league last year and now must negotiate a new deal before the current one expires on October 31. Players are seeking a drastically improved revenue sharing model that would allow their salaries to grow as the league does. The league has scarcely acknowledged those proposals during early bargaining sessions, players have complained. The distance between the union and the league is vast enough that it raises the question: Who's right? Are WNBA players as grossly underpaid as they claim? Or are they asking for too much given the WNBA's history of unprofitability and the potential fragility of its recent rapid surge in popularity? For the past year, Harvard economics professor and 2023 Nobel Prize winner Claudia Goldin has been advising the WNBA players union in collective bargaining. Last month, Goldin penned a guest essay in the New York Times entitled 'How Underpaid Are WNBA Players? It's Embarrassing.' After examining TV ratings, attendance data and other metrics, Goldin estimated that the average WNBA salary should be 'roughly one-quarter to one-third of the average NBA salary to achieve pay equity.' In reality, WNBA salaries currently range from the league minimum of $66,079 to a maximum of $249,244. That's not in the same stratosphere as the NBA, where the league minimum is $1.27 million and the highest-paid superstars will earn more than $50 million apiece next season. 'How could that be?' wrote Goldin. 'The most likely explanation is that the WNBA is not receiving the full value it contributes to the combined NBA and WNBA enterprise revenue.' Three other sports economists who spoke to Yahoo Sports agreed with Goldin's assessment that WNBA players are not being paid what they deserve. As evidence, they pointed to the fact that about 50% of the NBA's revenue goes to player salary and that WNBA players take home a miniscule percentage of their league's revenue by comparison. 'Even without knowing the exact revenues of the WNBA, we know they're certainly not making even close to 50%,' University of San Francisco professor of sports management Nola Agha told Yahoo Sports. 'So they're absolutely underpaid.' The WNBA will make at least $500 million in revenue next year, argues David Berri, an economics professor at Southern Utah and the co-author of 'Slaying the Trolls: Why the Trolls are Very, Very Wrong About Women and Sports.' Berri bases that estimate on a report from Forbes that places the league's 2024 revenue at $226 million, another report from Sportico that the expansion Golden State Valkyries are bringing in $75 million in their inaugural season and the WNBA's media rights deal with Disney that will provide $200 million annually. Say that WNBA players negotiate the right to take 50% of that $500 million, a revenue sharing percentage similar to what their counterparts in the NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball get. In that scenario, the 168 players on 2026 WNBA rosters would earn an average of $1.49 million — more than 10 times the league's current average salary. 'Clearly, if the league is going to treat WNBA players like they do the NBA players, there has to be a substantial increase in pay,' Berri told Yahoo Sports. Of course, evaluating how much revenue any league makes is notoriously tricky because sports accounting always includes some sleight of hand tricks and deception. That's particularly true in the case of the WNBA, whose deeply intertwined financial relationship with the NBA makes it hard to decipher where one league's revenue ends and the other's begins. The NBA founded the WNBA nearly 30 years ago, provides financial support to cover losses and remains a significant stakeholder to this day. Seven of the WNBA's 13 teams are owned by NBA ownership groups. Last year, the NBA negotiated joint television contracts for the leagues. Back in 2018, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that the WNBA annually loses roughly $10 million per year. Those losses allegedly quadrupled last year, sources told the New York Post, citing a rise in expenses like full-time charter flights and the fact that the WNBA's new media rights deal would not kick in for another two years. Count Andrew Zimbalist among those skeptical of those figures. Zimbalist, a professor at Smith College and a leading sports economist, served as an advisor to the NBA Players Association during multiple previous collective bargaining sessions. He remembers the NBA claiming losses each time in an effort to gain public support and extract further concessions from the players. 'They might claim they're making a loss but when you look closely at their books they're not really making a loss,' Zimbalist told Yahoo Sports. 'There are lots of shenanigans they can use to play with the books, so one would have to look very carefully at how they're doing their accounting before you even enter into discussions. The women's union needs to have some financially adept people at the bargaining table so the owners can't pull the wool over their eyes.' The lack of transparency regarding the WNBA's finances is a huge issue, according to union president Nneka Ogwumike of the Seattle Storm. In a 2018 Players Tribune essay, Ogwumike wrote that the union just wants 'information about where the league is as a business, so that we can come together and make sound decisions for the future of the game.' 'As players, we never get to see the numbers,' Ogwumike added. 'We don't know how the league is doing. As the kids say nowadays, we just want to see the receipts.' Last Thursday, on the eve of WNBA All-Star Weekend, many of the league's most recognizable players crammed into an Indianapolis hotel elevator and smiled for a picture. They were on their way to a rare in-person bargaining session between the players union and league owners. The mood was not so upbeat several hours later when those same players emerged from that meeting. While WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert characterized the talks as constructive and expressed confidence a deal would get done, players seethed over how far apart the two sides remained. 'A wasted opportunity,' Breanna Stewart called it. 'Disrespectful,' was how Angel Reese described the league's counterproposal. 'We have a long way to go,' Kelsey Plum admitted. Forty-eight hours later, 'Pay Us What You Owe Us' was born. By the end of the night, fans chanting 'pay them' drowned out Engelbert presenting Collier with the all-star game's MVP award at mid-court. 'That gave me chills,' Collier said later. To sports economists, the biggest challenge for WNBA players will be keeping supportive fans on their side and winning over those who already feel they're asking for too much. They have to be very clear with the public about what the numbers say and about why they're asking for a much larger piece of the pie. 'You can't let the NBA frame it to the media that we're willing to double their pay or something like that,' Berri said. 'You've got to come back and say, 'Look, I know what the revenue is. I know what the math says. We're partners in this and you owe us money.''
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
With WNBA growth on full display, players utilize All-Star weekend to send CBA message: 'We're fighting for what we're due'
INDIANAPOLIS — The foreshadowing was there all along. On the eve of All-Star weekend earlier this week, New York Liberty point guard Natasha Cloud set the tone ahead of impending labor negotiations with the league: "We're not f***ing around." They've historically shown they don't. There's no reason an All-Star Game amid pivotal and contentious collective bargaining agreement discussions would be any different. This is, as Kelsey Plum reminded on Friday, the same group that flipped the U.S. Senate in 2020. They advocated for the release of Brittney Griner from wrongful detainment in a Russian prison in 2022. And on Saturday, in front of a sold-out Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd and a city that came out in force to celebrate the weekend, the players packed a punch with yet another black T-shirt screaming their message clearly. It was a statement that 'spoke for itself,' Team Clark All-Star Kelsey Mitchell said, and drove home the idea that players want a piece of the pie they help bake. Pay Us What You Owe Us. 'We see the growth of the league,' All-Star Game MVP Napheesa Collier said. 'And as it stands, the current salary system is not really paying us what we're owed. And we want to be able to have that fair share moving forward.' The crowd, also, was not messing around. It drowned out Commissioner Cathy Engelbert's awarding of the MVP trophy with organic chants of 'pay them.' As Brittney Sykes walked back and forth behind the scene, holding a black sign reading 'Pay the players,' the crowd reacted as if watching a cartoon scene. 'It was a very powerful moment,' Plum said. 'We didn't, at least as players, we didn't know that that was going to happen. So it was kind of a genuine surprise.' It's all too reminiscent of the U.S. women's national soccer team suing its federation in 2019 and being met at the World Cup parade with chants of 'equal pay.' When players took the court ahead of Saturday's game, fans roared as they recognized what they were reading in white script. It's a different labor environment than most men's sports, and players understand that. The WNBA, still yet to hit its 30th year, doesn't pay the bloated contracts and multimillion-dollar annual deals that tick off the casual fan who misses the good ol' days of playing for the love of the game. Many Americans make more money than Caitlin Clark, who is on a rookie-scale $78,066 contract. She side-stepped a request earlier in the night to compare her salary with her sponsorship deals. 'That's where we're really fortunate is that we have those other deals,' Clark said. 'And I think that's one of the things that we're fighting for is we should be paid more, and hopefully that's the case moving forward as the league continues to grow. I think that's something, that's probably the most important thing that we're in the room advocating about.' Cloud, a veteran WNBA champion, said that after winning the skills competition on Friday night, the $57,575 ($55,000 from Aflac's sponsorship) would be set aside for a down payment on a house. She's playing on a $200,000 contract, a significant number more than double the U.S. median household income. But barely. 'We're fighting for what we're due, and what we're worth. Our value,' Cloud said on Friday. 'And they're going to be fighting for what they think protects the business. And our job, again, is to find common ground. But that doesn't mean that we keep taking the crumbs of the pie." The status of labor negotiations will always hinge on who one asks. WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike, union leadership and players who attended Thursday's meeting told reporters on Friday they were disappointed and frustrated at the lack of progress. Engelbert, in her annual pregame press conference less than an hour before the players' arrival, described the talks as productive. The players' No. 1 priority is revenue sharing, which will, in turn, deliver higher salaries. They see it all around them. The entire weekend screams of the WNBA's eruption, with signage starting at the airport and fans of all teams packing the streets with bags of new gear. Much of it features player likeness. And when they head back to their home markets, they're playing to record crowds in front of historic TV viewership. 'Just call it what it is,' Plum said on Friday. 'The players are the draw, so I think the players should now take part in that revenue that they're drawing.' Engelbert said before the game it was 'not accurate' that the league was unwilling to propose a revenue sharing system that allows player salaries to grow with the league. 'We already have a revenue sharing," Engelbert said, "but we were in a very different place in 2020 than we are in 2025, so I think you'll see the revenue sharing be a much more lucrative one as we go forward because we are in a better place, quite frankly.' The revenue sharing agreement in Article XII of the 2020 CBA dictates if the league's cumulative revenue exceeds the cumulative revenue target for said season, then players will be paid 50% of the shared revenue per certain stipulations. There is no set number in the CBA, though it was reportedly out of reach in previous seasons. Neither side has described the proposals they've made, or what their revenue sharing ideas are. 'Based on what we saw and based on what we're proposing, it's two fundamentally different systems,' Ogwumike said after the game. 'And one that leans more towards a fixed percentage is what the league is responding to us with and we want to have a better share of that where our salaries grow with the business and not just a fixed percentage over time.' The public statements from players and fan reactions put pressure on the league as negotiations continue. It's not new for players to utilize the fandom in real time. It is for them to do it with this much of the fandom so invested in their work. Engelbert conceded on Saturday that there is no hard date in October to complete a CBA. The two sides extended the deadline in 2019 and agreed to a deal in mid-January 2020. 'If we're in a good place, and we're going back and forth and there's a few remaining issues, we can extend dates here and there,' Engelbert said. Extensions could complicate the league calendar. Incoming expansion teams Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire will need to complete an expansion draft, which was scheduled in December last year for the Golden State Valkyries. All 15 teams will engage in a potential landscape-altering free agency period, since nearly everyone not on a rookie contract is unrestricted. The WNBA draft follows in April, right after the national title game on April 5, before the likely start of the 2026 WNBA season. Both sides said on Saturday they're committed to finalizing a deal. The players delivered their counterpunch before heading out of town and found that their fans, new and old, met them where they were once again this weekend. 'First and foremost, the mission was accomplished because we built an incredible amount of awareness this weekend,' Plum said. It's been a winning strategy for them before.
CNA
4 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Clark calls for more pay as WNBA labor talks intensify
INDIANAPOLIS :Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark called for better pay in the WNBA on Saturday as labor negotiations between the league and players intensify, while Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she was optimistic about their latest talks. Thousands of fans wearing "Clark" jerseys packed the Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the sold-out All-Star Game on Saturday, while the wildly popular Rookie of the Year was forced to sit out after sustaining a groin injury earlier in the week. Clark was an omnipresent figure in Indianapolis in the lead-up, despite not being able to play, as her face graced ads for Nike, Wilson and Gatorade that were plastered across the city center. Asked how those brand deals stacked against her league salary, Clark responded: "That's a good question." "That's where we're really fortunate is that we have those other deals. I think that's one of the things that we're in the room fighting for," Clark told reporters. "We should be paid more. Hopefully that's the case moving forward as the league continues to grow. I think it's something that's probably the most important thing that we are in the room advocating about." The Women's National Basketball Players Association and the league met on Thursday in Indianapolis to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement after the players voted to opt out of their current deal at the end of the season. The union said after the meeting that the two sides were far apart on several issues and players were seen warming up for Saturday's game wearing shirts that read "Pay Us What You Owe Us." Commissioner Cathy Engelbert struck a different tone with reporters, saying she felt the meeting with players had been productive. "(I'm) really optimistic that we'll get something done, that it'll be transformational, and that next year at All-Star, we'll be talking about how great everything is. But obviously, there's a lot of hard work to be done on both sides," she said. Engelbert, who also oversaw the league when the last deal was struck in January 2020, has been at the helm during a period of rapid growth for the WNBA, with TV ratings and attendance climbing rapidly. "We want the same things as the players," she told reporters. "We want to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners their ability to have a path of profitability."
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Clark calls for more pay as WNBA labor talks intensify
Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark called for better pay in the WNBA on Saturday as labor negotiations between the league and players intensify, while Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she was optimistic about their latest talks. Thousands of fans wearing Clark jerseys packed the Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the sold-out All-Star Game on Saturday, while the wildly popular Rookie of the Year was forced to sit out after sustaining a groin injury earlier in the week. Clark was an omnipresent figure in Indianapolis in the lead-up, despite not being able to play, as her face graced ads for Nike, Wilson and Gatorade that were plastered across the city center. Asked how those brand deals stacked against her league salary, Clark responded: "That's a good question." "That's where we're really fortunate is that we have those other deals. I think that's one of the things that we're in the room fighting for," Clark told reporters. "We should be paid more. Hopefully that's the case moving forward as the league continues to grow. I think it's something that's probably the most important thing that we are in the room advocating about." The Women's National Basketball Players Association and the league met on Thursday in Indianapolis to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement after the players voted to opt out of their current deal at the end of the season. The union said after the meeting that the two sides were far apart on several issues and players were seen warming up for Saturday's game wearing shirts that read "Pay Us What You Owe Us." Engelbert struck a different tone with reporters, saying she felt the meeting with players had been productive. "(I'm) really optimistic that we'll get something done, that it'll be transformational, and that next year at All-Star, we'll be talking about how great everything is. But obviously, there's a lot of hard work to be done on both sides," she said. Engelbert, who also oversaw the league when the last deal was struck in January 2020, has been at the helm during a period of rapid growth in TV ratings and attendance for the WNBA. "We want the same things as the players," she told reporters. "We want to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners their ability to have a path of profitability."
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Clark calls for more pay as WNBA labor talks intensify
INDIANAPOLIS, July 19 (Reuters) - Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark called for better pay in the WNBA on Saturday as labor negotiations between the league and players intensify, while Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she was optimistic about their latest talks. Thousands of fans wearing "Clark" jerseys packed the Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the sold-out All-Star Game on Saturday, while the wildly popular Rookie of the Year was forced to sit out after sustaining a groin injury earlier in the week. Clark was an omnipresent figure in Indianapolis in the lead-up, despite not being able to play, as her face graced ads for Nike, Wilson and Gatorade that were plastered across the city center. Asked how those brand deals stacked against her league salary, Clark responded: "That's a good question." "That's where we're really fortunate is that we have those other deals. I think that's one of the things that we're in the room fighting for," Clark told reporters. "We should be paid more. Hopefully that's the case moving forward as the league continues to grow. I think it's something that's probably the most important thing that we are in the room advocating about." The Women's National Basketball Players Association and the league met on Thursday in Indianapolis to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement after the players voted to opt out of their current deal at the end of the season. The union said after the meeting that the two sides were far apart on several issues and players were seen warming up for Saturday's game wearing shirts that read "Pay Us What You Owe Us." Commissioner Cathy Engelbert struck a different tone with reporters, saying she felt the meeting with players had been productive. "(I'm) really optimistic that we'll get something done, that it'll be transformational, and that next year at All-Star, we'll be talking about how great everything is. But obviously, there's a lot of hard work to be done on both sides," she said. Engelbert, who also oversaw the league when the last deal was struck in January 2020, has been at the helm during a period of rapid growth for the WNBA, with TV ratings and attendance climbing rapidly. "We want the same things as the players," she told reporters. "We want to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners their ability to have a path of profitability."
