WUSA vs WNBA

Andy_B · Apr 19, 2003

From the ongoing talks for the WNBA's new contract, ESPN put out this comparison

http://espn.go.com/wnba/news/2003/0418/1541010.html

The Women's United Soccer Association and the Women's National Basketball Association are in similar economic straits. Television-watching audiences are miniscule and profits have always been hard to come by.

Given the economic similarity of both leagues, the fact that the WUSA's highest-paid players agreed to pay cuts ranging from 20 to 36 percent before this season to ease the league's economic burden didn't exactly help the WNBA players get the pay raises they hoped for in these negotiations.

Although the WNBA's rookie minimum salary will remain the same ($30,000), the players received only a $2,000 minimum raise (from $40,000 to $42,000) in the first season of the agreement when they were originally hoping for a raise worth four times as much.

NBA commissioner David Stern last week made reference to the WUSA players' sacrifice as the WNBA labor negotiations continued.

"The league seemed to jump on [the WUSA comparison] but there was a big distinction," WNBPA spokesman Dan Wasserman said. "The WUSA players only locked in for one year and we were rebuffed in all our proposals for a short-term deal."

Players like Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy were scheduled to make $94,000 this season, but in their gesture of goodwill, they now are making $60,000. The WUSA, whose players make on average about $10,000 less than the WNBA's average salary of about $50,000, also cut costs by reducing active rosters from 18 to 16 players.

On a positive note, WNBA players will be allowed to endorse more products. In the last agreement, the league placed restrictions on 18 categories of products that players could not endorse because it would conflict with the league's sponsors. Individual teams will be allowed to place restrictions of six categories of products that their players cannot endorse under the new agreement, Wasserman said.
-- Darren Rovell,
ESPN.com sports business reporter
Click to expand...

tcmahoney · Apr 19, 2003

###MODERATOR'S NOTE###

Thanks for the catch, Andy.

NOTE: Stick to the topic at hand or we'll delete your posts. Thank you.