Work stoppage a possibility
The 2025 WNBA Playoffs started Sunday. “I know Minnesota is locked in chasing what would be a record WNBA fifth championship, but it will not be easy,” said veteran broadcaster Cindy Brunson, who while in town last week gave the MSR her quickie playoff preview.
“Everybody that made the playoffs has a deep set of skills and ability,” Brunson said. “Everybody has the chance to win it all this season. It reminds me a lot of 2021 where teams that weren’t expected made the WNBA Finals.
“Buckle up, grab your popcorn and keep it handy,” she suggested.
Meanwhile, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations between the WNBA and its players are still ongoing but seemingly at an impasse.
WNBA players opted out of the CBA last year and are seeking, among other things, a fairer share of revenue based on league growth, more in line with other pro leagues that have a 50/50 split of revenue between the players and their respective team owners. The WNBA players barely get 9%.
At this point, with the current CBA set to expire in October, a work stoppage seems a real possibility and not idle talk. The Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) now has weighed in their support of the W players.
The DWC last Wednesday held a press call, attended by the MSR after they sent a letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert urging “good faith” negotiations. It was signed by Black Democratic women lawmakers such as Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, Jasmine Crockett, Ayanna Pressley and Summer L. Lee. Joining them were several Black male Congressmen such as Emanuel Cleaver II and Kweisi Mfume, among other fellow male lawmakers. Over 90 Congress members signed the letter.
“We are 96 women strong,” stressed DWC Chair Teresa Leger Fernandez. “Women athletes, like all women, deserve fair pay.”
“WNBA players receive no shared revenue under the current CBA, including from TV deals, tickets, sponsorships and merchandise sales,” said the letter. “This is drastic in comparison with other major professional sports leagues. This new CBA deal is an opportunity to set the record straight that women are valuable workers who deserve to be paid accordingly and treated fairly.”
Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) Executive Director Terri Carmichael Jackson told the media, “Women’s sports is leading a movement grounded in all the issues that matter to women, to people of color, to the LGBTQ+ community, to working women — the women of the W always step up.”
WNBPA President and current W player Nneka Ogwumike added, “It must be that it is time to pay the players.”
This is more than sports, reiterated DWC Equality Caucus Julie Johnson. “This issue is so, so important,” she pointed out.
“I’m sick and tired of hearing excuses from leadership in men’s and women’s sports alike that they can’t pay women athletes what they deserve,” said Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig.
Asked if there is bipartisan support for the WNBA CBA talks, Craig told the MSR, “Certainly I hope that this can become a bipartisan effort here in the United States Congress. I know it is definitely a bipartisan fan base within Minnesota, and so I’ll be working to see if I can get my Republican colleagues across the aisle to speak out in favor of pay equity for these elite athletes in Minnesota and across the country.”
Oguwmike concluded that the CBA talks are not moving forward as they should, as she and the players union believe that the league “seems unwilling to share in the growth.” She also praised the lawmakers for what they did last week: “The fact that you would take this moment to remind them the world is watching and remind them that [the team owners] have a duty to bargain in good faith.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.