‘Fighting For A Fair Share’: Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham Wants WNBA To Pay Players

Before the Fever’s 89-81 loss to the Las Vegas Aces in front of 18,547 fans at T-Mobile Arena, Cunningham read off a pre-written statement.

“On behalf of my teammates and every member of our union, I want to be very clear that we remain committed to negotiating the next CBA with the league and the teams in good faith and privately,” Cunningham said via video from Willie Ramirez of ESPN. “But we do want to set the record straight, not for the headlines but for the fans who support us and deserve transparency. What’s at stake?

“This is a defining moment in the WNBA. As the league grows, it’s time for a CBA that reflects our true value. We are fighting for a fair share of the business that we’ve built, because it is a business. We are not fighting for anything that’s unreasonable. When it comes to salary and revenue share, we are fighting to share in the growth that we’ve created.”

Cunningham hinted that the All-Star game is a line in the sand

Cunningham hinted that WNBA players wanted to see changes before the All-Star game on July 19.

“Every other category across the business has grown–that’s media rights, ticket sales, and team values,” Cunningham said. “The only thing that is still capped is our player salaries, which is insane. We deserve a fair share, and we’re demanding salaries to reflect our true value in the business.

“We’re just under 25 days away from All-Star, just under four weeks. The clock is ticking. We come out here and play most of every night in front of these fans. We will continue to do that, but the current system is unsustainable for us, and that means it’s unsustainable for the business that we have created. Nothing short of transformational change will do for the future we see.”

Cunningham said that the WNBA is a business at the end of the day, and players would not “meet” the league if the league didn’t meet their demands.