Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

IS WNBPA ASKING WNBA IN CBA TALKS TO, 'LET GO OF MY LOGO?'

          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).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/1999/04/29/Leagues-Governing-Bodies/IS-WNBPA-ASKING-WNBA-IN-CBA-TALKS-TO-LET-GO-OF-MY-LOGO.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/1999/04/29/Leagues-Governing-Bodies/IS-WNBPA-ASKING-WNBA-IN-CBA-TALKS-TO-LET-GO-OF-MY-LOGO.aspx

CLOSE