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The WNBA has never been as popular as it is today, and it may be a good time for the league.
The league’s collective bargaining agreement with the Players’ Union will expire on October 31, 2025, leaving a possible shutdown on the table.
The Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) opted out of the deal last year when it was looking for “a business model that reflects the true value of (players) including higher salaries, enhanced professional working conditions, expanded health benefits and the important investment required for long-term growth”.
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On July 9, 2024, the WNBA logo at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. (Kirby Lee/Today Sports)
WNBPA director Terri Jackson said there was no agreement and players would be able to negotiate “as long as they need to” make a fair deal.
Jackson recently said in the New York Post: "Nothing is better than women's sports today, especially women's basketball, especially for our moments. So, are we grabbing it on every level? Definitely in the New York Post.
“We have been very active in discussing, proposing (plural - meeting schedule). It’s a small group project. We have done part of it and we just hope the league sees an opportunity to really achieve these milestones, just as hard as it works towards major progress. It’s not just an improvement. It’s not just a process of half the progress and effort to complete by October 10, 10.
"Of course, we can't stay away from last season, which starts to go backwards. It's going to be impossible," Jackson added. "I don't think anyone in the league or team side wants it."
The WNBA logo is on the ball in the fourth quarter of the WNBA Finals between the WNBA Finals and the Washington Mystics in Keyarena, Seattle on September 7, 2018. (Jennifer Buchanan/USA Today campaign)
Caitlin Clark
In March, Angel Reese admitted that players might "sit down"… "If you don't give us what we want."
Like Jackson, Reese said the players were “ready to stay at the negotiating table.”
Reese signed a four-year, $324,383 rookie contract ahead of its first WNBA season in 2024. She earns less than $75,000 in her first year and will earn less than she earns in 2025.
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Reese said in October that she was unable to pay her bills based on her salary on Instagram live videos.
Indiana craze Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky Angel Reese in a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on June 1, 2024. (Jeff Haynes/nbae via Getty Image)
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Last season, the WNBA watched the most regular season season in 24 years and had the highest attendance in the 22 season. More than 2.3 million people participated in the 2024 WNBA games, an increase of 48% from 2023.
Fox News' Jackson Thompson contributed to the report.
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