WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is optimistic that the league and players union will come to a new collective bargaining agreement at some point, even if it’s after the Oct. 31 deadline.
While the sides are far apart after meeting in person Thursday for the first time since December with more than 40 players in attendance, Engelbert has faith that a deal will get finished.
“I’m still really optimistic that we’ll get something done that would be transformational,” she said before the All-Star Game on Saturday night. “And that, next year at All-Star, we’ll be talking about how great everything is. Obviously there’s a lot of hard work to be done on both sides to get there.”
While the commissioner was talking to the media, players warmed up on the court wearing shirts that read: “Pay us what you owe us.”
Engelbert said more meetings are planned. The current CBA will expire at the end of October, after the season is over.
“I have confidence we can get something done by October, but I’m not going to put an exact date on it,” she said. “We’ve got some room to continue negotiations if we’re close at that point.”
There’s a lot of money coming into the league over the next few years with a new 11-year media-rights deal worth more than $2.2 billion, three new expansion teams that each paid $250 million in fees and many new sponsors.
The players’ top priorities are greatly increased salaries and a revenue-sharing plan, which Engelbert understands.
“We’re going to do something transformational here because we we want the same things as the players, but we want to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners, their ability to have a path to profitability, as well as in to continued investment,” she said.
Other areas that Engelbert discussed included:
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Globalization
Engelbert talked about trying to expand the footprint of the league around the world. The league will welcome its first team outside the U.S. next year with the addition of the Toronto Tempo. Engelbert mentioned Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa as places that could have huge interest in the WNBA.
“I think we’re really strong domestically now,” she said. “There’s a huge amount of possibilities, to turn these players into a global household being stars that they’ve now become here in the United States domestically.”
Officiating
The consistency of officiating has been a topic players and coaches have been discussing a lot this season, and Engelbert said the league is aware and will evaluate it.
“I realize consistency is the name of the game, and it’s something we definitely need to look at and evaluate,” she said. “There’s an independent evaluation of our officials and there are ramifications. It’s something we need to continue to work on. As our game evolves so does our officiating, so we’re on it.”
Scheduling
Engelbert said the league would look at possibly expanding the length of the season on the back end. The WNBA can’t really start any earlier because of the NCAA Tournament but could go into early November. There’s a good shot that will happen next year with the FIBA World Cup taking place in early September.
“We’re looking about what’s the best footprint, what’s the best number of games,” she said.