Catherwood LibraryILR School

In the six seasons since its formation, the Women’s National Basketball Association has remained largely free of the labor-management strife often seen in other professional sports, and earned a reputation for high spirits and cooperation. But with players’ salaries averaging only $47,000---or $58,000 depending on whether you ask the Players Association or the WNBA management---and taking up less than fifteen percent of revenues as opposed to as much as four times that amount for the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, labor-management cooperation may fall apart when the current players’ contract runs out on September 15. Frustrated not only by low pay, but also by restrictions on marketing contracts, salaries that seem to be locked in by initial contracts and disregard experience, and a prohibition on free agency, the players feel that they have done their best for the league and should not suffer for its continuing financial problems.