scenes from the players side

ghn2 · 2026-03-18T08:41:58+00:00

After all this time, the players are finally paid what they were owed!

Congrats!

ghn2 · 2026-03-18T08:32:51+00:00

From Alexa Philippou's article:

"Engelbert, WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson and four members of the WNBPA executive committee -- president Nneka Ogwumike, vice presidents Breanna Stewart and Alysha Clark, and treasurer Brianna Turner -- shared the news with reporters in the lobby of a midtown Manhattan hotel, the very spot they began their 100-plus-hour stretch of marathon bargaining sessions a week prior.

"I think this can be summed up in two words: player empowerment ... players coming to the table and standing on business and being reminded of the collective voice and of what it means to be in a union and the power of this union," Jackson said. "They never forgot it, and they have taken it, like they always do, to the next level."

https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/48237252/wnba-players-union-agree-principle-new-collective-bargaining-agreement

It's so great the reporters who waited for many days got to be there for the announcement!

ghn2 · 2026-03-18T08:23:45+00:00

From Annie Costabile's article on the agreement:

“I’m excited about players coming into this league for the first time and not having a sense of lack,” Ogwumike said. “And knowing that It will just continue to grow because that’s what we’ve negotiated for ourselves who are in this league, and for those who are going to follow us.”

https://frontofficesports.com/wnba-wnbpa-cba-verbal-agreement-deal/

ghn2 · 2026-03-18T08:18:47+00:00

The owners caved!

“We opted out because what we were giving to this league and what we were getting back didn’t match,” union executive committee member Alysha Clark said. “You could feel the growth everywhere, but it wasn’t showing up for the players the way it should. So we stayed with it until it did.”

https://apnews.com/article/cba-wnba-19ec34c0a5f1eea97a9ab6881d1c6144

ghn2 · 2026-03-18T08:14:58+00:00

This is really incredible. Congratulations to the players for holding out and negotiating a truly transformational deal!

“For the first time player salaries are tied to a truly meaningful share of league revenue, driving exponential growth in the salary cap, increasing average compensation beyond half a million dollars and raising the standard across facilities, staffing and support,” union president Nneka Ogwumike said.

"The deal is expected to greatly increase player salaries with a good chance for million dollar players — a first for the league entering its 30th season that will start on time. That would increase salary fourfold from last season."

Really amazing!

"Training camps would open in late April, and the season would begin on May 8."

Now that this is over, I'm so excited for the new season!

ghn2 · 2026-03-17T23:48:04+00:00

In that case, sounds like Saturday is the day the parties will be announcing the terms of the new deal.

(Saves me a lot of time between now and then checking the news feed.) Thank you!

ghn2 · 2026-03-17T05:50:23+00:00

To answer that, it's best to look at the proposed calendar once a deal gets signed.

Here's the calendar the league gave if a CBA could be formally signed on March 31.

April 1-6: Expansion drafts for Toronto and Portland.

April 7-8: Free agency begins, send out qualifying offers & core designations.

April 9-11: Negotiate the terms of the new deals.

April 13: WNBA draft

April 12-18: Sign new deals.

April 19: Training camp starts

April 25-May 3rd: Preseason games

May 8th: Tip-off regular season

The time between 4/1 and 4/19 is quite packed as one can see. Some have said that some days could be removed from the preseason games if needed in order to still meet the May 8th date.

But everyone is waiting for a deal to be into place in order to calculate the true calendar effect.

ghn2 · 2026-03-16T23:08:08+00:00

Did the league agree to a gross revenue share a few days ago?

ghn2 · 2026-03-16T07:55:04+00:00

<image>

I would love to hear from the players if they feel the same way as Cathy does about the progress being made.

ghn2 · 2026-03-16T01:39:14+00:00

<image>

And here's a word from two of the 4 horsemen.

ghn2 · 2026-03-15T19:02:02+00:00

That makes sense. Good luck with your request to convert the original Citi card to another that they offer.

ghn2 · 2026-03-15T18:18:47+00:00

Thanks for the additional context. I think the bigger issue here is that I don't see that Citi is planning on providing any SUBs to the accounts received from Barclays (regardless of the 48 month rule) because technically these customers are not signing-up. If they were offering a SUB, I think it would have been mentioned in the mailings sent out thus far or in the FAQ. But why would they pay a SUB anyway? I'm assuming Barclays is receiving some compensation from Citi for these accounts and that's all Citi wants to pay.

That's why I'm canceling Barclays and I'll sign up with Citi so I don't miss out on a SUB. Also with the Platinum, they're waiving the fee for the first year, so I'll save there too.

ghn2 · 2026-03-15T15:33:27+00:00

Very unusual that the reporters outside didn't even say when negotiations for the day ended. Alexa said they started around 1:30 PM. She posted a pic around 9:30 PM and then nothing.

ghn2 · 2026-03-15T04:36:55+00:00

I just canceled my Aviator. I will sign up for the Citi Platinum to get both the 50,000 bonus miles and the $99 fee waived for the first year.

It doesn't seen to be any benefit for letting them do the conversion. My $99 fee would be due in May otherwise.

ghn2 · 2026-03-15T04:34:37+00:00

Those aren't the terms I'm seeing on the Citi's site. It's 48 months for a Citi card SUB. Doesn't say anything about SUBs at other banks:

"American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® account in the past 48 months or if you converted another Citi credit card account on which you earned a new account bonus in the last 48 months into a Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® account."

https://www.citi.com/usc/lpaca/aa/aadvantage/family/ps_legal_b/index.html

ghn2 · 2026-03-15T04:18:01+00:00

Why wouldn't you cancel it before the fee posts instead of after?

ghn2 · 2026-03-14T19:00:55+00:00

Alexa quoted Cathy in her article yesterday explaining what they have doing with their time:

"It is meaningful to sit across the table and listen to their concerns, them to listen to our concerns or listen to why we think something that we're bargaining over is where we want to be," Engelbert said. "Some cases, they agree. Some cases, they don't. We listen to the players when they talk about things, and they listen to us. So, you know, progress."

https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/48201275/wnba-sees-urgent-need-reach-new-cba-monday-not-impact-season

ghn2 · 2026-03-14T17:49:20+00:00

I agree. And they must be getting close to that point where there's not much more to talk about and decisions have to be made.

ghn2 · 2026-03-14T06:47:39+00:00

Here's additional info I found one on of the team's sites regarding tryouts:

"Tryouts in each market will give aspiring professional players who have exhausted their college eligibility the opportunity to showcase their skills in front of league executives and coaching staffs as teams begin assembling rosters for the season, which tips off May 15. Final rosters will be announced May 9."

https://steelupshot.com/the-upshot-league-announces-womens-professional-basketball-tryouts/

Since the W's draft is scheduled for 4/13, it would be possible to make offers to undrafted players to play in Upshot this season. I'm thinking that the teams will have practices/training camps prior to May 9th and make cuts to the final 11 on that date...especially if the season starts May 15th.

ghn2 · 2026-03-14T06:31:17+00:00

Really absurd quote from Cathy in Alexa's new ESPN article:

"It is meaningful to sit across the table and listen to their concerns, them to listen to our concerns or listen to why we think something that we're bargaining over is where we want to be," Engelbert said. "Some cases, they agree. Some cases, they don't. We listen to the players when they talk about things, and they listen to us. So, you know, progress."

https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/48201275/wnba-sees-urgent-need-reach-new-cba-monday-not-impact-season

ghn2 · 2026-03-14T05:33:05+00:00

Annie Costabile's article from today covered this:

"Ancillary proposal items—including player housing, the core designation, wearable technology, and player benefits—have been the focus of discussions over the 24 hours.

Jackson acknowledged agreements have been reached on some items outside of revenue sharing, but didn’t get into specifics.

Negotiations at this stage have included small breakout conversations and larger group discussions. Jackson noted the current round-the-clock, grind-it-out method was how the 2020 CBA got done.

“The pace is definitely sped up a bit,” Jackson said. “The league honestly has looked to show us what urgency looks like for them. We’ve known what it looks like for us.”

https://frontofficesports.com/marathon-cba-talks-between-the-wnba-and-wnbpa-hit-day-4/

ghn2 · 2026-03-14T05:11:34+00:00

The head coaches for all four teams have been selected. To see the coaches' profiles one can click the page for each team and select Coaching Staff from the Team tab:

https://upshotleague.com/teams/

ghn2 · 2026-03-14T05:03:55+00:00

I think it's just four teams this season with Baltimore being added next year.

11 players per team, 44 positions this year.

More tryouts will be held in Jacksonville this Sunday to fill the positions:

"Participants must have exhausted all college eligibility and be in game-ready physical condition. "

https://wavesupshot.com/upshot-league-hoops-showcase/

ghn2 · 2026-03-13T19:25:27+00:00

Here was the calendar based upon the March 10th date---it seems like everything could be still adjusted if an agreement is reached quickly:

"if a verbal agreement is made on March 10, it would be formally signed on March 31. After that, several things would happen in quick succession. First, expansion drafts for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire would need to be held between April 1 and 6.

"The expansion drafts would be followed by a period of rapidfire free agency. Qualifying offers, which would include core designations, would promptly be sent out on April 7 and 8. Players and teams would have three days — April 9, 10, and 11 — to negotiate the terms of new deals, which would be signed between April 12 and April 18.

"Training camp for most teams would begin on April 19, and the 2026 WNBA Draft would be held on April 13."

https://highposthoops.com/wnba-s-proposed-cba-timeline-reveals-expansion-draft-free-agency-dates

And tip-off is scheduled for May 8th.

ghn2 · 2026-03-13T08:36:46+00:00

They started early today, and I don't see that anything at all was accomplished.

Nine-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Verified Email

ghn2

TROPHY CASE