WNBPA Dir of Operations Pam Wheeler said that the
union's right to use the WNBPA logo in sponsoring charitable
events is all that separates the two sides from a new CBA,
according to Jeff Metcalfe of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The
WNBA owns marketing and licensing rights to the logo,
meaning the union "is not allowed to use it for commercial
purposes." Wheeler: "The issue is important to us because
of the way the WNBA is part of the community." WNBA
officials are "apparently" concerned that giving up the logo
rights would lead to the "dilution of the ability to obtain
sponsors" (AZ REPUBLIC, 4/29). In N.Y., Judy Battista
writes that another "sticking point" is the number of union-
sponsored events in which players may participate. The
union wants "players, as a group, to be permitted to
participate in a maximum of five not-for-profit events" that
the WNBA isn't "organizing and at which the union logo would
be used." The WNBA has offered two. Meanwhile, WNBA
players are required to make 22 appearances: Eight paid
commercial sponsor spots and 14 unpaid promotional and team
appearances (N.Y. TIMES, 4/29). But FSN's Keith Olbermann
quoted a source that said a CBA "could have been wrapped up
yesterday" except for the league's "insistence" that the
WNBPA stage only one charitable event per year. Olbermann:
"The women asked for five, but when it became clear ... [NBA
Commissioner] David Stern and company wouldn't budge, the
source says, the union accepted" (FSN, 4/28).
EBERSOL NOT WORRIED, YET: NBC Sports Chair Dick
Ebersol, on the WNBA's labor dispute: "In terms of the WNBA,
the last week concerns me, but I don't think it's a concern
yet that people in the outside world should really have
because it hasn't affected the season." Discussing the
league, Ebersol called it "such a wonderful thing. The game
is great, the sense that the women care so passionately that
they're willing to really put themselves out there with the
fans. It's the friendliest environment in sports to go to a
WNBA game. I get scared when I read that some union
representative is saying, `Well, let's cut back on the
number of exposures,' but then I turn around and I do hear
from some of the women's players, `We never said that.
That's just our negotiators trying to get an advantage.'
That's what makes it different. That's the key to the long-
term success of women's sports anywhere, which is to show
that you care more, that you're more passionate about it,
that you're willing to follow it more. And this particular
case, I don't think it's a setback at this point, but let's
have it all cleared up in the next few days" (THE DAILY).
WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, ABL? In Philadelphia, Marcia Smith
interviews former ABL co-Founder & CEO Gary Cavalli, who
says that he "suspected the NBA used its leverage and power
to prevent us [from] getting our support. Not just for
television stations, but with sponsors" (INQUIRER, 4/29).
