Kelsey Plum sees WNBA’s offer as a ‘win,’ but CBA talks continue
NEW YORK — Kelsey Plum stated that whereas the gamers’ union ought to continue to barter a new collective bargaining settlement, she believes the offer the WNBPA has acquired from the WNBA to this point displays a “significant win” and that “a strike would be the worst thing for both sides.”
“I want to play, and players want to play,” Plum, the WNBPA first vp, stated at Unrivaled shootaround previous to Monday night time’s semifinal video games in Brooklyn. “And so obviously we’re going to continue to negotiate and do everything we possibly can to get this done in a timely fashion. But obviously a strike would be the worst thing for both sides, because we are in a revenue [sharing system]so no revenue, no revenue to share.”
The two sides have been far aside on income sharing as they work towards a new CBA — a course of that began almost 17 months in the past when the WNBPA opted out of the earlier settlement. The WNBPA is asking for a system during which gamers obtain on common 26% of gross income (earlier than deducting bills), whereas the league has been providing a system during which gamers obtain 70% of web income (after deducting bills).
The gamers’ union has bristled on the league’s offer as it quantities to lower than 15% of gross income, whereas the league has known as the WNBPA’s proposals “unrealistic” and claimed they might quantity to a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars} in losses.
Plum stated that getting the league to conform to a income sharing system for the primary time — the place gamers’ salaries will develop as each league and crew income grows — is one thing “we fought really hard for,” and that the WNBPA can continue to barter the expense credit the league would get.
“You can continue to negotiate without striking,” Plum stated. “…I’ve always been someone that’s focused on the gain, not the gap. And to be honest, I think if you look at where we’ve come from, shoot, since I came into the league until now, and now that we’re in a revenue share, it’s a tremendous win.
“Obviously, we will continue to barter. I am unable to emphasize that sufficient. Like we’re not simply settling. I need to be very clear about that. But I’m tremendous proud to be a part of this chance to vary ladies’s sports activities.”
WNBPA vp Breanna Stewartwho co-founded the 3-on-3 Unrivaled league, stated she agrees with Plum.
“I believe that whereas we’re nonetheless combating for a lot of various issues, we’ve got to appreciate that the rev share is a win, particularly simply even coming from the 2020 CBA and those earlier than that,” Stewart said. “Now, as the league makes cash, we earn cash. And so when [Plum] talks about ‘I do not suppose a strike is sweet for anybody,’ as a result of as the league loses cash, or if we’ve got a delay, we additionally lose cash.”
The WNBPA player body authorized the seven-player executive committee, which includes Plum and Stewart, to authorize a strike “when mandatory” in December. That possibility has lingered with both sides still not seeing eye to eye and the WNBA regular season scheduled to start May 8. Last week, the league gave the WNBPA a target date of March 10 to have a term sheet completed or else the season schedule could be impacted.
A source told ESPN that during a player call Tuesday, more than half of player leadership reaffirmed their desire to keep a strike on the table as a potential course of action, but Stewart and Plum’s public comments indicate at the very least that there is not a consensus.
Following a six-week stalemate to start the year, when the league did not respond to a WNBPA offer, both sides have exchanged a flurry of proposals over the past month. After the WNBPA submitted a counterproposal on Friday, the league responded with one of its own on Sunday.
The league’s new offers proposes accelerating maximum contract eligibility for star players on rookie-scale contracts, sources familiar with the negotiations told ESPN. All-WNBA first- and second-team players who are still on rookie deals would become eligible to sign a maximum contract in their fourth year, after which they would not be eligible for the core designation. A player on a rookie deal who earns MVP could also be eligible for a supermax deal and to not be cored.
For example, that would mean the past three No. 1 overall picks — Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers — would develop into max-contract eligible in 2026, 2027 and 2028, respectively. The union has been asking to remove the core designation and to cut back the size of rookie-scale contracts from 4 years to a few.
The league’s income share proposal stays the identical as earlier ones, though the cap in Year 1 was bumped from $5.65 million to $5.75 million, up from $1.5 million in 2025. Based on conservative league projections, the wage cap will develop to roughly $8.5 million by Year 6 of the deal, sources advised ESPN.
The league’s proposal options most salaries, together with income sharing payouts, amounting to just about $1.3 million in 2026 and projecting to method $2 million in 2031. The supermax in 2025 got here in at $249,000. The common participant wage, together with income sharing, can be projected to succeed in $540,000 in 2026 and $780,000 by 2031, up from $120,000 in 2025, whereas the projected minimal wage would soar from $66,000 in 2025 to over $230,000 in 2026.
