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The WNBA and its players’ union have reached an agreement in principle on their collective bargaining agreement, avoiding a delayed season.
PORTLAND, Ore. — In a late-night deal, the WNBA and the players union reached an agreement in principle on their new collective bargaining agreement.
Specifics still need to be ironed out, but this was an important step in making sure the season starts on time after missing the original March 10 deal deadline.
KGW caught up with Brian Berger with Sports Business Radio, who shared some insight on the deal and what it means for the league.
“The WNBA has a lot of momentum from the last few seasons, and you’d hate to see it all derailed by a work stoppage,” said Berger, “so the fact that they were able to figure this out and meet for over 100 hours over the last five days tells you how badly they wanted to get this done.”
The agreement comes more than a year after the players opted out of their last deal, and five months after that deal was set to expire.
This new landmark agreement is expected to quadruple player salaries and paves the way for the league’s first million-dollar players; but Berger said he thinks they are still undervalued.
“The league is exploding in growth,” Berger said. “They are playing in bigger venues. They have a better TV deal than they’ve ever had. They have better sponsors than they’ve ever had, so the revenues are there and the players should share in those revenues.”
Speaking of players, the league and the union needed to reach a deal for the Portland Fire to have any.
“Currently they have no players on their roster, so they need an expansion draft to populate their roster, then they can go out and sign free agents,” Berger said.
Berger has his own ideas for who should be on that roster, including an Oregon Duck legend.
“If I were them, who better to start your franchise campaign with than Sabrina Ionescu” said Berger, “so it would be a chance for them to sign her as a free agent and bring her home where she’s immensely popular, and to start the season off on that note would be incredibly exciting.”
The Fire’s first preseason game is slated for April 29, less than a month and a half from now.
