The WNBA Completed a Big All-Star Weekend and Made a Statement

The WNBA All-Stars warmed up before a sold-out crowd in Indianapolis on Saturday in black shirts that read: “Pay Us What You Owe Us.”

Off court, the players are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement that they hope will share more of the WNBA’s recent windfall with “the ones that have put in the blood, sweat, and tears for the new money that’s coming in,” according to Napheesa Collier, who was named the MVP of the All-Star Game.

Playing the percentages

WNBA players know their league doesn’t make NBA money. But currently, NBA players receive 50% of all league revenue, whereas the WNBA players receive just 9.3%.

According to Nneka Ogwumike, the president of the WNBA players association, the league offered players a fixed percentage of revenue, but the union wants a model where “our salaries grow with the business, and not just a fixed percentage over time.”

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said before the game that the league aims to significantly increase player salaries and benefits while balancing profitability for owners and encouraging continued investment.

Final score: Team Collier beat Team Clark 151–131, but Team Clark’s captain and namesake, Caitlin, could not play due to a groin injury.