NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA and the league's players union met in person Wednesday to discuss a new collective bargaining agreement.
“Today’s meeting included preliminary conversations and constructive dialogue, with a mutual agreement to continue discussions for a transformational, new CBA,” the two sides said in a joint statement.
The WNBA players union opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement, two years before its expiration in October. The current CBA will still cover the 2025 season so the two sides have a year to negotiate a new agreement.
The early opt-out marks a crucial juncture for the league. The WNBA signed a historic 11-year media rights deal worth $200 million a year.
The league had record attendance and viewership this year that culminated when the New York Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx in overtime on Oct. 20 to win the WNBA Finals in a decisive fifth game.
At the meeting on Wednesday were WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike as well as Kelsey Plum, Elizabeth Williams, Napheesa Collier, Satou Sabally, DiJonai Carrington and Stefanie Dolson. WNBPA Executive Director Terri Carmichael Jackson and additional union staff and advisors were there as well.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was joined by WNBA Labor Relations Committee members and additional league staff and advisors.
The league has been skyrocketing, with 2024 marking a huge breakthrough after years of significant and sustained growth. ESPN had huge increases in ratings with viewership in the regular season going up 170%, according to the union.
Engelbert said at her state-of-the-league address before Game 1 of the Finals that with the new media rights deal in place and many more corporate partners the strength of the league is in a great spot. She also went on to say that the players have been getting a lot more marketing deals, making them into household names.
The union said it was hoping for a new economic model that transforms the current system, which imposes arbitrary and restrictive caps on the value and benefits of players. The players want an equity-based model that grows and evolves with the league’s increased business success.
Other areas that the union would like to see improved include salaries, retirement benefits, better child care and family planning benefits.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
FILE - WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks at a news conference before Game 1 of basketball's WNBA Finals between the Connecticut Sun and the Washington Mystics, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
SYDNEY (AP) — A team from rugby league hotspot Papua New Guinea will enter the National Rugby League from 2028 after officially being granted a license.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Papua New Guinean counterpart James Marape met in Sydney on Thursday to shake hands over the deal, the culmination of two years of planning. The pair reached an in-principle agreement with the NRL in May, and have since been working out specifics.
“A Papua New Guinea NRL team is a game-changer for Australia’s relationship with PNG and a unifying force — no two countries have a greater passion for rugby league," Albanese said in a statement. “Australia’s relationship with the Pacific is profoundly important and our sporting ties are unique."
The final legal documents to ratify the team’s creation are expected to be signed in the coming weeks.
The as-yet-unnamed team is seen as key diplomatic tool for Australia to strengthen ties in the hotly-contested Pacific, particularly with increasing infrastructure efforts from China in the region, and will cost the Australian taxpayer 600 million Australian dollars ($380 million) over 10 years.
It will be either the NRL’s 18th or 19th franchise, pending further expansion plans into Perth, Western Australia.
Players will be granted tax incentives to relocate to PNG, and will live in a secure compound in the capital Port Moresby to be organized and funded by the PNG government. Recruitment of players is still two years away — league rules mean the new franchise will have to wait until November 2026 to begin approaching players on other NRL teams.
“This one team will be for one people, one country, one nation, a national unifier," PNG leader Marape said in a statement. “An NRL team for PNG is more than just sports — it is a national unification strategy."
Rugby league is a 13-man version of the 15-player sport of rugby union. League is played primarily in Australia, New Zealand, England and France but also is played in other countries such as the United States, Lebanon, which both have national teams, and other countries in the Pacific.
The 10-team Rugby League World Cup is scheduled to be played in Australia and Papua New Guinea in 2026. It was originally scheduled for France in 2025.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape gestures during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
An attendee records Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape speaking during a press conference in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, left, gestures during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
