WNBA’s new CBA sets blueprint as emerging women’s leagues chart their own path
Mo'ne Davis was preparing for a Women's Professional Baseball League scrimmage when the WNBA and its players agreed to a landmark collective bargaining agreement last month. Davis, who rose to stardom as a little league pitching sensation, followed developments as WNBA players negotiated historic salaries. As she enters the inaugural season of the WPBL , Davis sees those record gains as a signal to the next generation of women's leagues about what is possible.
“Wanting to be a WNBA player growing up and seeing it not be as huge as it is now,” Davis said, “and just seeing the growth — it’s amazing. I’m excited for what’s to come. ” As the WNBA begins its season under the new CBA, emerging women's sports leagues like baseball and hockey are looking at that progress as a promising roadmap for growth.
At the same time, leaders of those startup leagues recognize the WNBA's growth was shaped by decades of player advocacy, work stoppage threats and athletes playing elsewhere to supplement their incomes. “The WNBA is definitely an example of a league that had to grind and keep showing its worth over and over,” said Justine Siegal, co-founder of the WPBL, which debuts in August. “The recognition is overdue and well-deserved.
For us as a new women’s pro league, we don’t see it as the beginning. We see it is we’re part of a momentum that fans want to see. ” Newer women's leagues try to capitalize on current boom The WNBA's new seven-year CBA will raise the league's salary cap from $1.
5 million to $7 million in the first year of the deal. It will also improve player experience with codified charter flights, first-class travel accommodations and expanded mental health support. Perhaps most notably, the deal marks a new era of player compensation, with stars like four-time MVP A'ja Wilson making more than $1 million for the first time in WNBA history.
Continue to the original source for the full article.