NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA and its players’ union are meeting Sunday for a sixth straight day in hopes of reaching a collective bargaining agreement as soon as possible to avoid any potential delays in the upcoming season.
It’s been a marathon week of talks, with the two sides meeting for more than 60 hours since the first in-person negotiating session on Tuesday.
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Sunday’s session began around noon EDT with Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Alysha Clark returning to the union side. Brianna Turner arrived a few hours later.
Income sharing and housing remain major sticking points.
“It’s very important for us to define these two things, which I think are the most important thing on the agenda today,” Ogwumike, the union president, said Saturday between bargaining sessions. “So we want to make sure we can get it.”
The League’s proposals concerned net income – income after expenses – and those of the unions spoke of gross income – income before expenses.
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When negotiations began more than a year ago, the union asked for 40% of gross revenues and had dropped to 26% before Tuesday’s marathon in-person bargaining session. The league offered over 70% net income to players.
“We’ve talked a lot about revenue sharing, which obviously will be, I don’t even really like to call it the elephant in the room. Like it’s there, you know, like we’re going to talk about it,” Ogwumike said. “But housing is important, you know, and housing is really important. And I think maybe people who understand this negotiation or have knowledge of it have really shown how meaningful something like a housing allowance is, especially for women in the W.”
Teams have paid for player housing in the WNBA since the beginning and the league wanted to change that in the new CBA.
“We’re trying to get into this transitional space where we’re now making enough money to be able to take care of it, but we’re not at the point yet where we can completely eliminate it,” Ogwumike said.
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Before negotiations began Tuesday night, the union had asked teams to continue paying for player housing in the first few years of the new deal, but in the final two years of the CBA, franchises would no longer have to pay for housing for players who earn near the maximum salary, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.
During the same period, the league proposed continuing to pay housing for all players for the upcoming season and then only paying for housing for rookies as well as players earning minimum wage, the person said.
The league would also pay for housing for the two developmental players added to teams for the duration of the CBA.
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If these two major items can be resolved, the season could most likely start on time, May 8. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Friday night that they need to reach an agreement by Monday to potentially avoid disruptions in the upcoming season.
“Can things be 24 to 48 hours later than a date that we put on a piece of paper just so everyone understands there’s a basketball schedule here? Can things be 24 to 48 hours (later)? Sure,” Engelbert said. “But not much more before we start thinking about, you know, can we open a training camp, you know, that sort of thing.”
The league’s first two preseason games will take place on April 25 with Caitlin Clark and Indiana visiting New York and Seattle taking on Golden State.
“We have a pretty short preseason,” Engelbert said. “We have preseason games scheduled for April 25. That’s what worries me first. They’re very good games.”
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Before the preseason games even take place, there is plenty to do with an expansion draft for Portland and Toronto as well as free agency for 80% of the league. The college draft is also scheduled to take place.
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