Travel issues and the ongoing fight for more charter flights are the “biggest problem right now” facing the WNBA, according to a panel of players interviewed by ESPN.com’s Philippou & Voepel. Thirty-four players have been surveyed in recent weeks and more than 50% – 18 in total – cite travel “as the main problem”. Teams take commercial flights “except in a few specific circumstances.” Additionally, although the league allows teams “to use a public charter service called JSX,” it “is not available in many WNBA cities and franchises are prohibited from working with the company aerial to create new flight paths. Sky G Marina Mabrey: “Commercial flights are simply insane. You can’t get out at night, sometimes you’re delayed, you can’t get out in the morning, and then you’re waiting there and waiting there and waiting there for the bags and everything else. …It’s a complete waste of time” (ESPN.com, 08/28).
| THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS THE WNBA FACES THE WNBA | ||
| ISSUE | % OF RESPONDENTS | NO. OF PLAYERS (34) |
| Journey | 52.9% | 18 |
| Other | 20.6% | 7 |
| Salary structure | 8.8% | 3 |
| Security | 5.9% | 2 |
| Visibility | 5.9% | 2 |
| Roster places | 5.9% | 2 |
