Speaking to the media ahead of the WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis on Saturday, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert opened by speaking of the boom in popularity the league is enjoying.
But the topic most people wanted to hear about was the ongoing negotiations between the league and the players for a new collective bargaining agreement. And it became clear the league and the players have a very different view on the current state of those negotiations.
“We had a productive meeting on Thursday with the WNBA (Players Association) and the players,” Engelbert said. “We’re engaged in constructive conversations. I remain confident we’ll reach a new CBA, one that’s transformational for the teams, players and owners for the future of our league.”
And then the All-Star players took the court for pregame warm-ups wearing T-shirts reading, “Pay Us What You Owe Us.”
Following in-person negotiations between both sides on Thursday, players expressed disappointment that more progress was not made at the bargaining table.
“I think (Thursday’s) meeting was good for the fact that we could be in the same room as the league and the Board of Governors,” said Liberty star Breanna Stewart, a union vice president. “But, I think, to be frank, it was a wasted opportunity.”
The dispute began when the players union announced after the 2024 season that they would opt out of the CBA on Oct. 31, 2025.
With television revenues on the rise — largely due to the presence of Caitlin Clark — the players want a larger piece of the financial pie.
“Obviously, women’s basketball is skyrocketing,” Chicago Sky second-year forward Angel Reese told reporters. “And it’s important for us to get what we want now, not just now, but for the future as well. … hearing the language of things, not things that I was happy to hear. It was disrespectful — the proposal that we were sent back.”
One of the key sticking points is revenue sharing. With money pouring into the league at record levels, players want what they consider to be a fair share of revenues.
“We want a piece of the entire pie. Not a piece of part of the pie,” Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum said Thursday.
For her part, Engelbert said the league is already sharing revenue with the players, and she anticipates the sharing to evolve to a place both sides can agree with.
“We’ve been talking about different ways to do revenue sharing,” she said Saturday. “There is revenue sharing in our existing CBA that is expiring after this season. So, we already have revenue sharing. We were at a very different place in 2020 than we are in 2025. So, I think you’ll see the revenue sharing be a much more lucrative one as we go forward because we’re in a better place, quite frankly.”
Following the game Saturday, players continued to express their dissatisfaction with negotiations, and some addressed the message they were trying to send with the shirts.
“When we say the ‘W’ we’re at the forefront of a lot of different things,” three-time MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces said. “There are things we deserve and we’re demanding. Right now, during this transformative time that we’re in, we need to start capitalizing on that. We need to get what we’re well overdue for and it shows how powerful our league is and how powerful our voices are on our platform.”
Added Kelsey Mitchell of the Indiana Fever: “I think the statement spoke for itself. … It was important for our statement to remain clear. We just want the respect we deserve at the end of the day.”
–Field Level Media
