Good morning! Biden's new proposal would make over-the-counter contraception covered by insurance, over 100 female soccer players signed a letter protesting FIFA's sponsorship deal with a Saudi oil company, and a historic WNBA championship is followed by a historic decision. Have a lovely Tuesday!
- Play ball. On Sunday night, the New York Liberty won the team's first-ever WNBA championship in 28 seasons. Team owner Clara Wu Tsai took advantage of that historic moment to remind viewers what made that achievement possible: investing in female athletes.
"When we bought the team four years ago, they were playing at Westchester County Center to a crowd of 2,000,” Wu Tsai said during the trophy presentation by commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “And the first thing we wanted to do was bring the team to Barclays Center so that they could have a bigger stage. And then we wanted to give them facilities and performance and nutrition and everything that they deserved because they’re such elite professional athletes.” Her point was echoed by ESPN reporter Holly Rowe, who has covered the league for years. "This is what women's sports can be," Rowe told the sold-out arena of more than 18,000 people.
So it was perfect timing for the WNBA's players yesterday to announce some major news: the players' association, known as the WNBPA, said they're opting out of their collective bargaining agreement with the league two years early. While every metric for the WNBA has risen over the past season—attendance, TV viewership, merch sales, and more, as I explored in a recent Fortune magazine feature profiling the commissioner—players were locked into a negotiated contract that didn't allow them to earn more money as part of their official salaries. Superstar Caitlin Clark's rookie salary was about $75,000 while the top-paid players earn around $250,000. The league, too, is waiting for more revenue to come in with a renegotiated media rights deal set to begin with the 2026 season.
Players and the league were both permitted to opt out by a November 2024 deadline, and the players chose to announce their decision the day after championships—seemingly for maximum impact. Nneka Ogwumike, the Seattle Storm player who serves as president of the WNBPA, said: "Opting out isn’t just about bigger paychecks—it’s about claiming our rightful share of the business we’ve built, improving working conditions, and securing a future where the success we create benefits today’s players and the generations to come. We’re not just asking for a CBA that reflects our value; we’re demanding it, because we’ve earned it."
The WNBA is a high-growth product, and players want the league to think creatively about how to better compensate them; as Ogwumike noted, salaries aren't the only way to do that. "Working conditions," as Ogwumike mentioned, include practice facilities like Wu Tsai provided for the Liberty, as have the Seattle Storm, Las Vegas Aces, and other teams; the league could play a role in making other teams catch up to the new standard.
With one year to reach a contract, there's the possibility of a WNBA work stoppage if the two sides can't come to an agreement. With all eyes on women's basketball over the past year, fans will be rooting for a deal good enough to ensure the game goes on. Read more about what led to this moment in my feature here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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