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WNBA stars participating in Saturday night’s All-Star Game wore a message on their T-shirts during warm-ups directed at league officials amid tense collective bargaining agreement (CBA) talks.
Each WNBA All-Star, including Indiana Fever sharpshooter Caitlin Clark who was sidelined for the game, wore the shirt. The clothing also featured the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) logo underneath the message.
The shirts read, “Pay Us What You Owe Us.” However, the message didn’t appear to resonate across social media.
WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike praised the players for using their platform.
“I’m just so inspired by the amount of players that showed up, the engagement that was there,” she said. “That’s really what it’s all about. Because the more that happens, the more that we’re going to be able to get things done. I think today we’re going to be able to use this conversation to start rolling the ball on things.”
Players have argued that business has been booming for the league and they deserve an increase in salaries because of it. The WNBA was a part of a new $2.2 billion rights deal that will start next season and, with the league planning to expand to 18 teams by 2030, the new franchises are paying a $250 million expansion fee.
The New York Post reported last year that the league was projected to lose $40 million during the 2024 season. The new media rights deal is expected to bring at least a $100 million increase from what the league was making on its current rights deal, which the report said was about $60 million in 2024.
Even through the contention, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Saturday night that she was optimistic a deal would get done.
“I’m still really optimistic that we’ll get something done that would be transformational,” she said. “And that, next year at All-Star, we’ll be talking about how great everything is. Obviously there’s a lot of hard work to be done on both sides to get there.”
The current CBA is set to expire on Oct. 31.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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