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The Women’s National Basketball Players’ Association eased its financial stance in the latest proposal it made to the WNBA in collective bargaining, multiple media outlets reported on Tuesday.
The latest counterproposal came after a league proposal submitted earlier this month.
Per the reports, the union is now seeking an average of 27.5% of the league’s gross revenue, beginning at 25% in the first year of a prospective agreement. The salary cap for the initial year would be below $9.5 million in the opening season, per the WNBPA’s reported proposal.
Previously, the union sought a 31% average of gross revenue, beginning at 28% in the first year. The opening-year salary cap was at $10.5 million in the WNBPA’s previous proposal.
A WNBA spokesperson told ESPN regarding the new union position, “The Players Association’s latest proposal remains unrealistic and would cause hundreds of millions of dollars of losses for our teams. We still need to complete two Drafts (a two-team expansion draft and college draft) and free agency before the start of training camp and are running out of time. We believe the WNBA’s proposal would result in a huge win for current players and generations to come.”
The WNBA’s latest offer features a $5.65 million salary cap. A key sticking point involves the league’s desire to peg the players’ share to net revenue rather than gross revenue. The WNBA reportedly is offering an average of more than 70% of net revenue to the players, but ESPN reported that figure would work out to less than 15% of the gross revenue.
The new union proposal reportedly seeks to retain housing for players, which the WNBA was trying to phase out from prior collective bargaining agreements. The WNBPA is asking for housing to remain in place for the first few years of a new deal, but later players making higher salaries would be on their own to find housing.
The WNBA reportedly has offered one-bedroom apartments for players making the minimum salary and studio apartments for two developmental players per team.
The next WNBA season is currently scheduled to tip off on May 8 with three games, including the expansion Toronto Tempo playing host to the Washington Mystics. The expansion Portland Fire are due to face the visiting Chicago Sky on May 9.
–Field Level Media
