WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike Says Teams Are 'Unwilling to Share' in WNBA Growth

With all eyes on the WNBA and the Women's National Basketball Players Association ahead of the Oct. 31 expiration date of the current collective bargaining agreement, WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike didn't exactly hold back in her latest comments Wednesday.

"We are negotiating with a league and at least seven, and who knows, maybe all 13 teams that seem unwilling to share in the growth that we are driving that, as many have said, especially on this call, that our labor produces," she said during a discussion with the Democratic Women's Caucus and the WNBPA. 

"They know the business is doing well and will continue to do well, and yet they want to have it both ways and claim that sharing league and team revenue is not possible right now. How? How can that really be? It must be that we are bargaining. It must be that it is time to pay the players. So again, the fact that you will take this moment to remind them the world is watching and remind them that they have a duty to bargain in good faith."

The possibility of a work stoppage looms if the two sides are unable to come to terms on a deal, and the back and forth took center stage over the All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis this summer.

ESPN's Michael Voepel and Kevin Pelton reported players saw a meeting with league Cathy Engelbert and ownership representatives as "a missed opportunity," and it made national headlines when the players wore shirts that said "Pay Us What You Owe Us" as they warmed up for the All-Star Game.

Voepel and Pelton noted revenue sharing is "the most important" issue, especially the possibility of whether it will be allowed to grow over the course of a new CBA or remain at a fixed number.

"The players are still adamant that we get a percentage of revenue that grows with the business, which perhaps includes team revenue, and that's just a part of the conversation," Ogwumike previously said.

Voepel and Pelton also pointed out the two sides could extend the terms of the current CBA as they continue negotiating if they don't come to terms on a new one by the Oct. 31 deadline.

Still, Ogwumike's latest comments don't suggest they are particularly close to a resolution.

The back-and-forth has come at a time of unprecedented growth for the league, which set its single-season attendance record last month with much of the campaign still remaining.

What's more, additional expansion is on the horizon beyond the Golden State Valkyries playing their first season in 2025. The Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire will start play in 2026, a Cleveland team is set to begin in 2028, a Detroit team will play in 2029, and a Philadelphia team will begin in 2030.

Yet it remains to be seen what the CBA will look like when those teams are added.