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After months of negotiations, including the past week of in-person meetings, the WNBA and the players finally reached an agreement on a new CBA. There are still technical things to get ironed out before the deal is officially ratified and steps can be taken to ramp up the start of the season. But from all accounts, including former No. 1 overall pick Chiney Ogwumike, the new CBA is positive thing.
During a recent segment on ESPN, Chiney Ogwumike, in her new role as an analyst, spoke about why the new WNBA CBA is so significant.
“The word that comes up to my mind, is transformational, also historic. . .One is revenue share. That is truly the hallmark of a professional sports league. You talk about the NBA, the NFL, the MLB, now the WNBA has fully entered the conversation,” Ogwumike said. “Not a system particularly based on strategic triggers, but now it’s actually tied to the salary cap, to the growth tied to revenue moving forward.
“And then obviously you can see that all players are taken care of. From the supermax going from $240,000 to now over $1.4 million, the minimum going from $66,000 to now being $300,000. This is something that will transform lives, and I’ll lastly say this, it’s not just the money that matters here. Stay tuned the next few days, the next week or so, for facilities, retirement benefits, family planning benefits, housing. There are going to be things that are landmarks that are truly historic in different categories.”
With the new CBA in place, the next couple of weeks are going to be busy for the WNBA. The first item at stake is the expansion drafts needed as the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire are set to begin play. The league will also need to execute a free agency period with more than half of players set to become free agents.
With the conclusion of the NCAA season coming shortly, the regular WNBA Draft will need to be held as well. Training camps are set to open in mid-April while the start of the season is scheduled for May 8.
