The WNBA has reached an agreement with the Players Association

Sweeeet! Finally things can start moving forward. I'm tired of waiting :-) Hopefully there were some good, player-friendly changes in the new CBA.

Player friendly in terms of marketing, I hope. WNBA Enterprises has worldwide right to use a players attributes in any form of trade, consumer promotion, marketing, or advertising purposes. The player can not permit any other entity that directly competes in a designated sponsor category to use her likeness. Players cannot enter into agreement with any product or service that would interfere with the WNBA Enterprise.

Loosening up on that a bit , will allow a player to take advantage of marketing opportunities. Especially on a local front. Thus, creating more income for themselves. Not only that. If my company sells XYZ, and I sign a player to an endorsement deal. I'm going to want to make my product and that player visible. Creating a marketing campaign to expose my product , exposes the player as well. Exposer for players = Exposer for the league. Win, win, if you ask me. That's marketing the league, without spending a dime. The player will be able to create and establish something for herself.

sounds like a plan to me. when they gonna wise up and put you on the payroll girl??!!

Dang, I never realized that was how the current bargaining agreement worked. Like you, Smoov, I hope they've made some changes in that aspect of the agreement. It's stupid not to allow someone else to get paid and have someone else pay to put them in front of their target audience. If that was available to the players, maybe they wouldn't have to play year-round and shorten their careers because of it.

Not only that, but maybe for once they'd be able to figure out accurately who their target audience is at the expense of someone else. Any word on when the details of it will be released?

a few more details in this article
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/wnba/2008-01-27-new-cba_N.htm