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Alexa Philippou
Indianapolis – WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said on Saturday that she was optimistic that the League and that players will accept a new collective agreement which presents a much more lucrative income sharing model.
ABC negotiations were a massive subject during the stars festivities here this week. More than 40 players attended a meeting between the union and the league on Thursday, some later describing it as a wasted opportunity to progress in talks before the imminent ABC expiration at the end of October.
MVP twice Breanna Stewart said on Friday that income sharing is an area where players and the league did not see eyes, and shortly after Engelbert’s remarks on Saturday, players wore heating t-shirts before the stars who said “pay us what you need”.
Engelbert said that the League speaks in different ways to share income and that the WNBA is in a very different place as when it determined its current model, when the last CBA was adopted in early 2020.
“We want the same things as the players want,” said Engelbert. “We want to considerably increase their salary and their advantages while balancing with our owners their ability to have a path to profitability as well as continuous investment. You see tens of millions of dollars invested in practice facilities and other players in the team.
“So that will continue, I think, no matter what we do here, but it is a balance between these two. But there is a proposal on both sides around income sharing.”
President of the WNBPA Nneka OgwumikeHowever, said that the current league proposal is not what players hope.
“Based on what we have seen and depending on what we offer, these are two fundamentally different systems, and the one who leans more towards a fixed percentage is what the league responds to us,” she said. “And we want to have a better part where our wages increase with the company, and not only a fixed percentage over time.”
Engelbert called on Thursday’s negotiations between the league and the “constructive” players’ union and reiterated his confidence that the two parties can reach a “transformational” agreement.
“I appreciated how many players came to Reunion. I thought it was great,” said Engelbert. “Communication is important, and having this meeting, being at the table, was important with this scale of players … I really respect the players to listen to. They listen to our owners, and we are somehow in the middle as a league, trying to make sure that we prepare this league to succeed for decades. And that’s the goal, to have a fair CBA for all.”
Engelbert addressed several other subjects:
• The League is still working on rules for a two team expansion project for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, its 14th and 15th teams which should start to play in 2026. Engelbert said that these rules will be collectively negotiated, and that hope is to finish the ABC, then hold the enlargement project and the free agency in this order.
• Engelbert said that the League intends to concerns through the WNBA on incoherent and, in some cases, poor, officiating and said that “it is something on which we must continue to work. And as our game has evolved, we have our official. We are therefore on this.
• The League explores what the footprint should go ahead, taking into account the “hyperprowth” of the League, the expansion and the importance of international competitions, mainly the Olympic Games and the Fiba World Cup, which it wants to support. Due to the World Cup next September, the 2026 season will probably escape in early November, but generally Engelbert expects that each season ends around mid-October.
• Despite very publicized injuries this season, especially for Caitlin ClarkEngelbert insists that data from the League show that there was no significant increase in injuries thanks to the same number of games as last year.
• The League envisages different ideas and formats for future All -Star games, in particular to make Friday events – currently the challenge of skills and the 3 -point competition – more robust.
