The WNBA is careening toward a work stoppage with its current collective bargaining agreement set to expire on October 31.
As is typically the case, the players association and owners are at odds over player salaries. Unfortunately this time, the two sides do not appear to be close. The WNBA has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity over the last half decade, and though salaries have risen substantially, the players argue they deserve far more than the league is willing to offer.
Mainly, the players want a cut of league revenue in line with what NBA players make, which is nearly 50%. By contrast, WNBA players make only about 9%.
Former ESPN president and Unrivaled investor John Skipper appeared on “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” where he suggested the two sides begin moving toward a model that gives players increasing shares of league revenue.
“While they’re not going to get [the same percentage as NBA players] immediately,” he said, “if I were sitting at the bargaining table, I would suggest that we’re going to move over time to a model where you do get paid a percentage of the revenues.”
In the WNBA, the salary cap is not tied to revenue, whereas in the NBA, revenue dictates the cap increases. A similar model would increase player salaries significantly in the W with a $2.2 billion media rights deal set to kick in next year.
Skipper said that owners' concerns could be allayed by knowing WNBA team valuations are soaring and they will make a huge profit when they finally sell.
“I have suggested that the owners would be wise to understand that they’re going to make the vast majority of money they make on flipping the team,” he said.
Former Miami Marlins president Dave Samson took the opposite side. He said such a deal would not be profitable for the league and would be unsustainable.
“My interest in management is to make sure we’ve got a healthy business that can be sustained over a long period of time and that can be profitable,” he said. “And what the women want in the WNBA is for the WNBA to do a deal that would guarantee no profitability. They’re not going to do it. And I would call the bluff of all these negotiators.”
