WNBA CBA Talks: Union and League Clash on its Urgency

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00:00Annie, I'm curious, what is the union saying about the current state of the CBA negotiation?

00:05Yeah, I mean, what they stressed in their statement, Terry Carmichael Jackson talked

00:10about in her statement was that there's a lack of urgency from the WNBA side. That's what the

00:15union feels. And they're questioning whether or not the WNBA is attempting to run out the clock

00:22is exactly what the union's statement said. And in a follow up, the league communicated that,

00:29you know, they've, they've made it clear to the union, but just in case it's unclear to anybody

00:34else, they're engaged in conversations with the union that they feel are productive. And they're

00:41stressing that the priority for them is to get an agreement in place that is one the players can be

00:49satisfied with, but also lends itself to the further development and growth and productivity of the

00:56league. And so when you hear a statement like that, right, it, it, it points to the fact that

01:02they are clearly at odds, um, over, over certain aspects, because again, um, the league is saying

01:09we want to make the players happy, but, and so that, but is, is a big, but. Well, let's talk about

01:15that, but because this is coming on the heels of record attendance. We're getting record ratings for

01:20the WNBA this last season and the players clearly feel motivated to get a transformative deal. If the

01:27league wants to run out the clock, how bad would this be given where things are at with the league

01:32right now, if there is a labor shortage and there's a strike here? Yeah. So that's the, the important

01:37distinction, right. To be made. There's a difference between a strike and a lockout. A strike is prompted

01:43by the union. A lockout is prompted by the league and, and, and owners. The, a lockout is, is exactly

01:50what it says as it is. It's, it's ownership, locking the players out of the league and, and the

01:55facilities, et cetera. And so when it comes to this October 31st deadline, the reason why you would need

02:03an extension is because there, there would need to be a, a, a CBA in place, even while you're negotiating

02:11for a new one, because again, um, when you talk about players using facilities, even though it's

02:17the off season, I saw someone question about, you know, well, by October 31st, the season will be

02:22over. That's true. But, but you still have to have language in place that again, protects both sides,

02:30right? You still have to be operating under an existing contract, regardless of whether the season's

02:36in place or not. So that's an important note to make, but then when it comes to what the actual

02:42but is again, to your question, it's that revenue sharing, that's going to be the hangup. And it's

02:48going to be the, the biggest point of emphasis in these negotiations, because again, to your point,

02:54um, as, as attendance skyrockets, as viewership skyrockets, as these expansion fees continue to

03:04skyrocket, the, the players have indications, have factual information that they're looking at that

03:12backs up their argument for again, a transformational revenue sharing model to that same point,

03:20the league is emphasizing, we need to make decisions that, that continues the success of the

03:27league that doesn't halt it here. And so I think until they can get closer in terms of what benefits

03:35both sides, these statements from, from both sides are going to read as we're at odds.