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There has been and continues to be a whole lot of discussion about the labor battles that might occur when the MLB collective bargaining agreement expires in December, and for good reason. Comparatively, though, that story is on the backburner, as the players and owners haven’t actually started to bargain for real, other than laying out some preliminary goals before the true negotiations take place.
Meanwhile, the Women’s National Basketball Association and the WNB Players Association have already blown through an extension on their current CBA and are days away from another deadline without any resolution. United Soccer League Championship, or USL Championship, has been at odds with its players for 494 days now — the union and league have been bargaining for their new CBA since August of 2024, and it expired with the coming of this new year. And that’s for a league where the players are hoping to make a livable wage, not “millions,” mirroring the fight of MLB’s minor-league players from earlier this decade, where they simply wanted to be paid as if their job was a job, and not have to worry about their next meal or their living conditions.
At least the ECHL — basically the equivalent of MLB’s Double-A for hockey, but as its own league with its own union — agreed to a new CBA with the Pro Hockey Players Association recently. It took a brief strike that cost the league 41 scheduled games for that to happen, though, after nearly a year of bargaining. Whether the WNBPA or USLPA have to do the same in order to see meaningful progress in their own negotiations is the question.
The WNBPA membership empowered its bargaining committee to declare a strike, if deemed necessary, which the WNBA did not react well to. At this point, it might be the only path, however, since the deadline extension bought them until January 9, and it’s now January 5 with the two sides still unable to agree on what revenue even counts as revenue for the purposes of the league sharing with the players:
The league has proposed a system where players would receive in excess of 50% of net revenue, essentially defined as revenue after subtracting expenses, a source told ESPN. The last reported WNBA proposal, from Dec. 18, featured: an uncapped revenue sharing component; a raise of maximum salaries above $1.3 million and growing to nearly $2 million over the life of the deal; average salaries to above $530,000 and growing to more than $780,000 over the life of the deal; and minimum salaries to more than a quarter of a million in the first year alone. The salary cap would be $5 million in the first year and grow in line with revenue growth in the years afterward.
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WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN on Dec. 19, though, that the league’s revenue share model is “not adequate.” The union is proposing a system based on gross revenue — defined as revenues before subtracting expenses — giving players about 30%. The WNBPA believes that players who provide the labor and have no control over business expenses shouldn’t be paid last.
The players gave the owners the benefit of the doubt with the revenue-sharing plan in the current CBA, one that had escalators and markers to hit that would increase the players’ share of the profits, and none of that ended up happening thanks to the pandemic and accounting wizardry. That they refuse to do the same this time around makes a whole lot of sense, as does calling out the league for not being honest about what it is that they are offering.
There is also far more going on here than just straight-up money, as SB Nation’s Chelsea Leite detailed. The WNBPA is fighting for things like dedicated athletic trainers and physical therapists, retirement benefits, and more. And it’s all starting to feel like a strike or strike threat, like with the ECHL, is going to be the only thing that causes the owners to realize they are not the ones with the leverage here, considering the state they have the players in in what’s supposed to be the premier women’s basketball league in the world.
As for the USL, it continues to grow in scope and in popularity, but the negotiations are seemingly never ending, and it’s not as if the players are demanding the world. Per their open letter to fans published just before the expiration of the CBA:
To make the first CBA possible, players agreed to an extremely limited starting point so that the league could survive and grow. This ensured both a pace of change that was sustainable, and the continued growth of the league and the sport of soccer in this country. In practice, this meant we accepted wages and working conditions that fell short of professional standards.. We made that sacrifice because we believed in the future of the league, and because we trusted that progress would continue over time.
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In 2025:
- Approximately 85% of players did not have 12-month contracts and are treated as seasonal employees
- Over 25% of players were not even offered ANY health insurance option by their clubs
- Roughly 25% of players made less than $35,000 gross salary
For this league to truly grow, the USL Headquarters (which is separate from the clubs themselves), must take an active role in investing in and strengthening the USL Championship. It’s not fair to promote a bold vision for the future of American soccer while, behind the scenes, denying players basic professional standards. What is said publicly should match what players experience in negotiations.
USL is an excellent soccer experience, too — the team that debuted in Portland, ME this past season, Hearts of Pine, was a massive hit, and the community support for it was evident not just in terms of how difficult it was to get tickets owing to them being sold out for the season in a venue that seats 5,500, but in multiple local breweries becoming partners with the team to sell beers exclusive to games at said venue, and with local commercial giant L.L. Bean serving as the sleeve sponsor on their (beautiful) kits. How many of the Hearts of Pine players made less than $35,000 gross? Or didn’t even have 12-month contracts, or health insurance?
Allowing for a growth period is one thing — the National Women’s Soccer Players Association didn’t want to push the NWSL on certain things early, either, for fear it would turn into yet another folded women’s soccer league, and now they have their own CBA issues to sort out. However, at some point, the growth has occurred, the league is successful, and it’s time for the players to be paid back for the investment that they put into that success. Owners — whether in the NWSL, or WNBA, or USL, or literally any of them anywhere — do not see things this way. They will take the benefits of players who are willing to put their time and energy into growing something special, benefit financially because of those sacrifices, and then demand even more out of the players while expecting crumbs in return to suffice for the players’ needs.
It’s important to remember all of this as major media coverage so often slants in leagues’ favor, with outlets prioritizing access or not wanting to be appear biased because the arguments are so one-sided that simply reporting things as they are gives the illusion of bias. WNBA players want their fair share in one of the fastest-growing leagues in professional sports. USL players are being forced into, once again, playing for less than they are worth while the league itself thrives and those who aren’t on the field benefit from that the most. Both leagues should take a cue from the PHPA and how quickly a strike made ECHL’s owners play ball, as it were. These tools exist for a reason, and while no one wants to use them, sometimes, the occasion comes up and it’s time to open the toolbox.
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