Rebecca Lobo Warns WNBPA Is Losing Fan Support In CBA Fight

With the WNBA still without a new CBA, the Hall of Famer warns that the players’ messaging may now be turning fans away.

Last week, I wrote that the WNBPA has overplayed its hand in the ongoing CBA negotiations.

Turns out, Rebecca Lobo agrees.

With the WNBA and the players’ union still without a new collective bargaining agreement after extending the deadline for months, the Hall of Famer said she’s worried the players’ rhetoric is beginning to cost them public support.

During an appearance on the latest episode of the A Touch More podcast, Lobo said support for players felt “100 percent” last year, particularly after viral moments like players wearing “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts at All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis. But as negotiations have dragged on, she believes the tone has shifted. And not in a good way.

“Some of the rhetoric I’ve heard from their side has been a little bit troublesome,” Lobo said. “When a deal is presented that’s over a million max salary and revenue share, it’s called a ‘slap in the face.’ Just use different words.”

Language matters, Lobo explained, particularly when fans are hearing numbers that would represent massive increases from where the league has historically been. The league’s most recent proposal would raise the average WNBA salary from roughly $120,000 to more than $530,000, while the max salary would jump from just under $250,000 to more than $1.3 million. 

Players, however, have continued to push back, reportedly countering with a significantly higher salary cap and advocating for revenue sharing tied to gross revenue rather than net. That’s been a key sticking point in negotiations. Owners have argued that the structure players want is not financially sustainable.

“As these negotiations have gone on, it feels like some of (the fan support) is waning,” she said. “And I think some of it has just been the language and the verbiage and that sort of thing that we’ve heard from the players’ association.

“I think the players just need to be a little bit more careful with how they’re articulating things. Because if you’re working whatever job, a max salary of $1.2 million, average salary of $500,000 — if you don’t think it’s fair that’s fine, but don’t call it a slap in the face.”

Her comments land at a time when the league’s momentum — fueled largely by the rise of Caitlin Clark and an influx of new fans — has become central to the union’s leverage. Yet as Lobo pointed out, that leverage depends on public goodwill continuing to exist. 

In other words, it’s time to sign that CBA.

Lobo concluded: “No one should go away feeling like this is anything other than an awesome deal for the players.”