Latest news with #Golden State
New York Times
7 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
What cities did WNBA players think would suit expansion? Not where the league picked
The WNBA is at an inflection point. The league has experienced record-breaking jumps in attendance, ticket sales and TV viewership in three consecutive seasons. A massive media rights deal valued at $2.2 billion over 11 years begins in 2026. After more than a decade of staying stagnant at 12 teams, the WNBA finally expanded to Golden State this season and will have welcomed five teams, Valkyries included, by 2030. Advertisement All of this growth comes with the looming backdrop of collective bargaining negotiations. The current collective bargaining agreement expires on Oct. 31, 2025, and the players and league appear far apart on a resolution, as Satou Sabally called the league's latest proposal a 'slap in the face.' Though players fought for the WNBA's survival during the last round of negotiations in 2019, they now have leverage thanks to the exploding business of women's sports. Today's section of The Athletic's anonymous player poll deals with player priorities for the CBA negotiations, as well as their desires for salary increases and on league expansion. Earlier this week, players weighed in on who they think will be the face of the league in five years and who's the league's best player and biggest trash-talker. Our reporters spoke to nearly 40 players from the start of the 2025 season. All 13 teams are represented, but none of the 30 rookies on rosters are included as the survey attempted to gather veterans' perspectives, making up a field composed of nearly a third of the league's non-rookies. Players were granted anonymity to speak freely. They were also permitted to skip individual questions; as a result, each question shows the total number of responses for full transparency. Players were not allowed to vote for their team or teammates. The players union identified five priorities for the new CBA when it decided to opt out: a new economic model, player salaries, minimum professional standards, retirement benefits, and pregnancy and family planning benefits. Those issues are all echoed in these results, with the added priority of extra roster spots (the general consensus was 14 per team) earning three votes. In its more recent public messaging, union leadership emphasized the importance of a more equitable revenue sharing system in this CBA so that the players can participate in the growth of the business. The present agreement has revenue sharing beyond certain targets. Although the league has brought in substantial revenue over the past three seasons, the revenue targets are cumulative, and the economic impact of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 meant that the WNBA has been playing catch-up on those targets and unable to hit them. As a result, players currently receive about only 10 percent of the basketball-related income the league brings in. Their counterparts in the NBA have a 50-50 split. Advertisement For now, the rank-and-file membership of the union is predominantly interested in higher salaries, which earned 70 percent of the votes. What shows up on a paycheck is top of mind for most players, though the best way to ensure continually growing salaries would be through a higher percentage of revenue share. That way, as the WNBA brings in more money, players will consistently partake in that growth. Because salaries were highlighted in the answers, we also asked players what they thought they should earn with a WNBA maximum salary. The majority of players (25 total out of 30 answers) said "as high as possible," $1 million or "at least" $1 million. Two players said $1.5 million and there was one vote apiece for $750,000 and $500,000. Another simply answered, "something fair." The maximum salary in the WNBA in the 2025 season is $249,244, so the majority of respondents want to at least quadruple that. The current CBA doubled maximum salaries from the previous agreement, but the players have a much stronger negotiating position this time around, and many players hope that can be leveraged into seven-figure salaries for the first time in league history. 'Raise salaries, as much as we can raise them.' 'With more money in the league, people are going to try to play around and find loopholes and all this other s---. I just want to make sure that there's clarity in terms of making sure players are protected and that they know their rights.' 'Bigger apartments, daycare stipend, little things like that'll help alleviate stress (for parents) during the season." The timing of this survey meant that most players were polled before the announcement of expansion teams coming to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia, and some were polled afterward. Even so, there wasn't much enthusiasm for those three cities. Cleveland collected only two votes and Philadelphia one. Advertisement The winner with 37 percent of the vote was Miami, which has to make the founders of Unrivaled feel good about their choice of headquarters. Players like the idea of adding Miami to their travel schedule. That city also fulfills a geographic need for the WNBA, as its footprint continues to evade the Southeast, excluding Atlanta. Beyond Miami, Nashville (which put in a bid during the most recent expansion process) was the second-most popular answer, Charlotte third, and one answer was simply 'somewhere in the Southeast.' Boston was tied for third with Charlotte. It seems unlikely that Boston will join the WNBA so long as Connecticut still has a franchise, considering their close proximity. (Boston hosted its second annual Sun game at TD Garden Tuesday against the Indiana Fever and played in front of a sellout crowd.) However, Connecticut has explored selling its team, and a relocation to Boston could help retain some of the fans in that market. 'Atlanta is in an eight-state radius of the next WNBA team. So somewhere else in the Southeast or that area. A Nashville, Miami or South Carolina. We need more basketball around there. There are a lot of girls that play basketball around there that have to drive hours to see a game or are forced to watch it on TV.' 'Tropical destination.' 'Somewhere down there in the South.' 'It's beautiful there (in Miami), and I think they'll have a lot of fans there as well.' 'It would be so nice to travel (to Miami) in the summer." 'I feel like it's time (for Boston), and I feel like another big market NBA franchise would be great.' Thursday What's the best-run franchise? What's the worst-run franchise? Friday What's the best rivalry? Who's going to win the WNBA championship? (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images, istock)
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
WNBA Preview: Mercury faces tough test, WNBA All-Star Game
The 2025 WNBA season has officially hit its halfway point. And besides the upcoming All-Star break, general managers made some decisions at the end of last week in preparation for the August 7 trade deadline. GMs had until Sunday, July 13 at 5 p.m. ET to waive any players on unguaranteed contracts before those unguaranteed salaries became guaranteed. Players like the Mercury's Kiana Williams, the Lynx's Alissa Pili, the Sparks' Mercedes Russell, the Liberty's Marquesha Davis and the Sun's Haley Peters and Jaelyn Brown were all waived prior to this midpoint deadline. Advertisement Why do GMs do this? It usually is a mechanism that allows for teams to maintain salary cap and roster flexibility. Once the midpoint date passes and players clear waivers—it takes 24 hours to do so— teams can sign players to 7-day contracts. In most cases, the teams who waived players can re-sign those same players to these 7-day contracts. A player can only be on a 7-day contract three times until a team then has to sign them to a rest of the season contract. The midpoint also marks a change for hardship contracts as those will also be just 7-day deals until that player reaches the limit of three 7-day contracts. Meanwhile, the Valkyries waived wing Stephanie Talbot, who was on a protected deal so that they could make room for the expected July 15 arrival of French center Iliana Rupert. To be clear, this wasn't a move done with the midpoint deadline in mind since Golden State has boat loads of cap space. The Valkyries needed to create another roster spot for when Rupert officially arrives. WNBA: JUL 13 Dallas Wings at Indiana Fever Clark, Fever get best of Bueckers, Wings in first pro matchup of WNBA stars Advertisement The highly anticipated matchup between Clark and Bueckers was originally supposed to take place on June 27 in Dallas. The Week Ahead This upcoming week is a shortened one because of the All-Star break that begins on Thursday July 17 and runs through Monday July 21 with games picking back up on July 22. While there are only three days of regular season games this week, that doesn't mean there aren't great matchups to watch right before the break. The Phoenix Mercury have a really difficult schedule leading into the break and as do the Golden State Valkyries. All of their matchups are must-see. Also, the Indiana Fever's first trip to the loud and rowdy Brooklyn crowd at Barclays Center to take on the Liberty on Wednesday night will for sure be a game to circle. Advertisement The WNBA All-Star Game itself probably won't be super competitive on Saturday night, but expect the three-point contest and skills contests on Friday night July 18 to be super-competitive. Insurance company Aflac is giving $60,000 to the winner of the three-point contest and $55,000 to the winner of the skills contest in addition to the much smaller purse that the WNBA provides to the winners of those contests. Sabrina Ionescu and rookie Sonia Citron are currently the only confirmed participants in the three-point contest, although it wouldn't be shocking if Caitlin Clark joins the fun with All-Star weekend taking place at her team's home in Indianapolis. Phoenix Mercury @ Golden State Valkyries (Monday July 14 at 10 p.m. ET on League Pass) Advertisement The Valkyries will be going into this game coming off a tough 104-102 loss on Saturday on the road to the Aces. The Mercury, however, will play for the first time in five days. Phoenix will be without Kahleah Copper (right hamstring) and Satou Sabally (right ankle) but will continue to integrate recent signee DeWanna Bonner into their schemes. Can Mercury point forward Alyssa Thomas continue her hot streak which included a 29/8/5 statline in their last game, defeating the Lynx, the league's top team, 79-71? Thomas will likely have to contend against the physical defense of first time All-Star Kayla Thornton in addition to the raucous Golden State crowd also known as 'Ballhalla' to extend their edge in the WNBA standings over the Liberty. Phoenix Mercury @ Minnesota Lynx (Wednesday, July 16 at 1 p.m. ET on League Pass) The Mercury's schedule only gets harder before the All-Star break as they then jet off to Minneapolis for a rematch against the Lynx, a team they beat just a week prior in Phoenix. As of now, the Lynx remain undefeated at home, but their recent struggles against the Chicago Sky at home and on the road prove that the Lynx might have hit a mid-season lull after rolling through the majority of the first half of the regular season. Since losing wing Karlie Samuelson to a Lisfranc injury for the rest of the season on June 29, the Lynx have had to play six games since, the most games in that stretch of time across the league. Advertisement Golden State Valkyries @ Seattle Storm (Wednesday, July 16 at 3:00 p.m. ET on League Pass ) Both the Storm and the Valkyries have been incredibly inconsistent in the past couple of weeks of play. In that span, the Storm have lost to the Mystics, the youngest team in the league with the second-worst overall offensive rating. The Valkyries defeated the Fever handily 80-61 last week but then also fell in close games to both the Dream and the Aces. The last time these two teams battled, the Valkyries clobbered the Storm 84-57 and then previously in mid-June Golden State defeated Seattle 76-70. Golden State has struggled to win on the road, only winning three games on the road, including two against the Sparks in Los Angeles. Their first road win outside of the state of California came on July 9 against the Fever. Indiana Fever @ New York Liberty (Wednesday July 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBSSN) Advertisement The Fever will play at Barclays Center for the first time this season after splitting their two home games against the defending champs in the Liberty previously. In the first game between these two teams, Jonquel Jones powered the Liberty with a 26/12 double-double. But then once Jones had gone down with a sprained right ankle, the Liberty struggled without her, and Caitlin Clark exploded scoring 32 points in a 102-88 win over New York that kept the Liberty out of the Commissioner's Cup Final. While Jones most likely won't play on Wednesday as she continues to recover and ramp up her conditioning, the Liberty have found ways to win without her since the Fever last played them. 2025 WNBA All-Star Game: Team Collier @ Team Clark (Saturday July 19 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC) Both Napheesa Collier and Caitlin Clark are All-Star captains for the first time in their careers for the 2025 WNBA All-Star game. Collier's team on paper looks a lot more balanced with much more size and versatility including Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike and Paige Bueckers. Clark's is a team that probably will shoot a ton of threes especially with Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally joining Clark from teams that put up a tad under 30 three-balls a game. Advertisement When both Clark and Collier chose their teams, they agreed to trade their coaches so that Cheryl Reeve could coach her own player in Collier. Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello will coach Clark, Ionescu and her former player and first-time All-Star Kayla Thornton. Expect this game to be less competitive than the one from last year since Team USA won't be put up against the WNBA All-Stars. When that happens during Olympic years, players who don't make Team USA usually have a chip on their shoulders and show out. This year's game will be much more about entertaining the fans who tune-in instead of trying to beat the players on the other side.
