Turnout high, but WNBA CBA talks stall in Indy

INDIANAPOLIS — More than 40 WNBA players, including Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese, gathered Thursday for a meeting between the Women’s National Basketball Players Association and the league to discuss ongoing negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement.

It marked the largest in-person player turnout in union history during CBA talks.

Thursday’s meeting, the first in-person one the two parties have had since December, lasted for a couple of hours and ended with no resolution.

“The WNBA’s response to our proposals fails to address the priorities we’ve voiced from the day we opted out: a transformational CBA that delivers our rightful share of the business we built, improves working conditions, and ensures the success we create lifts both today’s players and the generations that follow,” the WNBPA said in a statement.

Earlier this week, union president Nneka Ogwumike had expressed optimism that Thursday’s meeting could be beneficial and lead to an easing of tension between the sides because it would be face-to-face. But instead, the union left unsatisfied.

“We’ve told the league and teams exactly why their proposal falls so short,” the statement said. “The business is booming — media rights, ratings, revenue, team valuations, expansion fees, attendance, and ticket sales — are all up in historic fashion. But short-changing the working women who make this business possible stalls growth.

“The only thing more unsustainable than the current system is pretending it can go on forever.”

The sides did agree to another meeting this weekend.

“I don’t know that I’m going to say progress, but we had spirited conversation,” said Terri Carmichael Jackson, the executive director of the WNBPA.

“I think we’re on track to get back to meeting, and to engaging in conversations that will lead us to a CBA.”

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told The Associated Press after the meeting that both sides are in listening mode.

“It was very constructive dialogue. I think, you know, obviously part of the process is to go back and forth and listen to the players, they listen to us and the owners who represent the board of governors,” Engelbert said. “I still feel really optimistic that we can get something transformational done by the end. But it’s a process.”

The WNBA’s new $2.2 billion media rights deal starts next season, and the league plans to expand to 18 teams by 2030, with each of the three new clubs paying a $250 million expansion fee.

Ogwumike had said that how the expansion fees are reflected in revenue shares that go to the players was something in particular they wanted to discuss Thursday.

The union opted out of the current CBA last fall, and if a new one is not put in place by the end of October, some players have mentioned the potential of a lockout. The league has never lost a game to a work stoppage since it started in 1997.

Players submitted a proposal in February that the league responded to last month. With conversations between the union and the league lagging, Thursday’s meeting was expected to be a pivotal moment in the negotiation process.

“It’s not complicated,” the union’s statement said. “We are committed to the fight. We are committed to returning to the negotiating table. And we will not stop until we achieve the transformational CBA this moment demands.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.