Sports
WNBA travel woes persist. Besides charters, what are the answers? – The Athletic
WNBA
It was 2018, and the fourth overall pick in the recent WNBA draft met with Women’s National Basketball Player Association representatives, who discussed some of the challenges of league travel. They told Gabby Williams that flying to Connecticut for games against the Sun is always difficult. “Well, I lived in Connecticut for four years,” she thought, “and travel was never a problem.”
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“Charters,” Williams says, “change everything.”
It’s well documented that WNBA teams do not fly charter to the vast majority of their games, differentiating the league from most other major North American professional sports. For that, it’s faced years of public criticism and has left teams at the mercy of commercial flying — delays, cramped flights and even the occasional cancellation. Heading into this season — its 27th — the WNBA expanded its charter policy, allowing private flights for all postseason games and select regular-season games, such as back-to-back contests. But players are still waiting for additional charter accommodations.
WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson says she thinks about player travel conditions “every day” and is open to suggestions about ways to better the current situation. This past offseason, she says the WNBPA proposed a plan to phase in charter travel, permitting teams up to three regular-season charter flights to be used at their disposal. She was hopeful, then, the number would gradually increase in future years. The WNBA turned it down.
Explaining that decision to The Athletic, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert cites a $4 million investment into charter travel and the aforementioned ammendments this season, including allowing charters for the league’s possible 28 postseason games. “Where do you want your players to put the best show on? In those games of consequence, during the playoffs,” Engelbert says.
At July’s All-Star weekend, Engelbert said she felt “confident” season-long charter travel is in the future. She stressed the importance of the league’s upcoming media rights deal negotiations (and in turn an expected significant revenue boost) as a way to achieve this.
“There’s no way any male sport has charter travel without a huge media rights deal,” she says. Later, she adds: “You’re not gonna jeopardize the financial stability of this league, I’m telling you. If the players got what they wanted right now — look, I want it for them too — but they’re not going to have jobs in three to five years if we did it today.”
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Nevertheless, little has quelled calls for improved conditions. Demands from players are not expected to stop in the run-up to the league’s upcoming CBA negotiations, in which either side — the WNBA and the WNBPA — could abandon their agreement at the end of the 2025 season. (Engelbert says that year will probably be the last of the current cycle.)
I would love to be part of a deal that helps subsidize charter travel for the entire WNBA.
I would contribute my NIL, posts + production hrs to ensure we all travel in a way that prioritizes player health + safety, which ultimately results in a better product.
Who’s with me?
— Breanna Stewart (@breannastewart) January 22, 2023
Still, there are other short-term adjustments that could be made to improve travel conditions. The Athletic talked to more than a dozen players about changes they’d like to see.
Toward the end of the 2021 season, Jackson and Brittney Griner discussed ways to improve player travel. Griner reinforced a desire for charter flights. However, she was skeptical about how soon private air travel would be implemented, so she raised another idea — could her and her Phoenix Mercury teammates (and the rest of the league) have access to airport lounges? Jackson agreed and told Griner she was working on it.
That offseason, Jackson says the WNBPA reached out to every major airline about trying to get lounge access for its members with mixed results. It wasn’t Jackson’s first attempt to work on this potential development. Shortly after Engelbert was hired as WNBA commissioner in May 2019, Jackson says they discussed the idea over lunch. “We thought that was the kind of partnership that either we could work with the league on, or they could champion themselves,” Jackson says. “For us, it doesn’t matter who gets the credit. Just make it happen.”
Not much has changed. On a trip to play at the New York Liberty in June, the Minnesota Lynx faced a lengthy delay. As they waited in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport terminal, some players sat at a Starbucks. Veteran guard Kayla McBride wished they had another option. “Just being able to go into the Delta Sky Club and hang out,” she says.
Atlanta Dream guard Danielle Robinson is a Delta Sky Club member because of how much she has flown — in the W and international play — over the course of her 12-year career. Sometimes, Robinson says, she and another teammate with access to the club wait for flights there apart from their teammates. Though overcrowding in airport lounges is possible, many players believe obtaining access to better seating and snacks in a relaxed setting would improve road trips, especially if a team’s commercial flight is delayed. It would allow them privacy to recharge. “It’s definitely helpful to have meals in there and be able to rest in a more quiet space, and not so much hustle and bustle,” Robinson says.
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Jackson says there is currently no rule restricting teams, or the league, from providing airport lounge access. Many players wonder why airlines or credit card companies, for instance, haven’t partnered with the league, or its teams, to provide lounge accessibility. Engelbert says: “We’ve talked to the airlines. We just haven’t been able to get them to agree to step-up and broker something with us.”
There has been at least one agreement that has provided players with access to lounges. Prior to this year’s campaign, the WNBPA announced a partnership with Priority Pass, allowing current WNBA players into its more than 1,300 airport lounges in more than 148 countries. Some players, like WNBPA secretary and Chicago Sky center Elizabeth Williams, have commented on its benefits.
Had a 4 hour delay at the airport yesterday but thanks to @TheWNBPA partnership with @prioritypasscom our team was able to eat, rest, and relax! 🙏🏿🙏🏿 pic.twitter.com/7NyAVtNuxc
— Elizabeth Williams (@E_Williams_1) June 26, 2023
Jackson says a number of players have signed up for Priority Pass’s Ambassador Player Program because of their fondness for the service. Yet the majority of those interviewed by The Athletic say they still had not yet entered a Priority Pass lounge; the company says on its website that more than 1,000 of their lounges exist outside the U.S and most airports used by W teams don’t have them. “I don’t think it’s asking for a lot either,” Phoenix Mercury guard Shey Peddy says. “It’s just the bare minimum.”
Breaking the WNBA travel rules has brought significant consequences. The New York Liberty repeatedly used charter planes during the second half of the 2021 season, and they paid a price with a league-record $500,000 fine for violating the collective bargaining agreement.
“We’ve never said all teams must be flying charter (and) that needs to be a requirement,” Jackson says. “What we’ve asked is, eliminate the prohibition on charters so that teams that are able to do it, can do it.”
Engelbert points to the fact that the players agreed to this arrangement in their most recent CBA negotiation. “They called it progressive, where they prioritized other things in that negotiation,” she says. “And one of those things that they didn’t ask for was charter travel.”
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Though the NBA and WNBA are not entirely analogous entities, the NBA’s CBA does not require charters. Instead, it says: “Each team shall provide first-class travel accommodations on all trips in excess of one hour, except when such accommodations are not available.” Unlike the WNBA, NBA franchises are given room to do more.
Flying charter has become a standard in that league, one that benefits players’ health and safety, and, in turn, the overall product. Such changes would benefit the WNBA and its players as well. “It is truly about their health and safety,” Jackson says. “When your body is part of your performance, then all of this is part of the calculation.”
Adds Connecticut Sun star Alyssa Thomas: “Playing in the finals and having charter flights, it does make a difference. It made a huge difference for us to be able to leave after the game and be able to get where you need to go.”
Beyond finances, the WNBA has historically cited competitive balance as an explanation for why teams don’t fly private. However, in July, Engelbert dismissed that as a current factor, saying it has more to do with this question: “Can we afford this long term?”
GO DEEPER
Pickman: Why WNBA charter flights should no longer be considered ‘competitive advantages’
As demonstrated by the Liberty in 2021, some franchises appear more open to and capable of spending on charters than others. How often a team would charter could vary, if allowed, and Jackson emphasizes a desire to give teams the agency to decide how often they would want to. Yet Engelbert says individual team’s charter decisions aren’t sustainable for many teams, that “there’s no way if they had to fund this with no ability to make money ever that they would stay in this league more than five to seven years. They’d fold the team.” It’s why she stresses finding long-term revenue sources, whether through gate tickets, media and content deals, or corporate partnerships.
A desire to make sustainable long-term financial choices is understandable. But Jackson says a side-letter amending policy could be agreed to at any time. (Side-agreements have previously been reached on topics related to the 2020 Wubble season, Commissioner’s Cup prize pool and bonus pools.)
Jackson also said that during the NBA’s most recent CBA negotiations, which concluded earlier this spring, the WNBPA asked the NBPA to put forward a proposal that would repurpose a portion of the annual player fine and suspension money, which normally gets distributed to charitable organizations, and use a portion of it to fund two WNBA matters: defraying some costs of charter travel and helping reimburse current players (and over time retired players) for a few mental health appointments per year, which insurance may not always cover. Jackson says it would have re-allocated around $1 to $1.5 million per season and that NBPA leadership was behind it.
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Engelbert says of that proposal: “We did not ignore it. We took a look at it. But it’s not my money. … I personally think it’s the right (decision not to utilize it), because you’re taking money away from 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations, really? That’s not a good narrative for anybody and the money’s not that high, and then we put way more money up in our charter program this year than they even took in.”
Says Jackson: “Here’s the thing, the dollars are not charity dollars. The dollars are fines and suspensions that have been assessed. … In the overall budget of what the NBPA Foundation and NBA Cares has to work with, that’s not a lot of money at all. They can still do great work. And we were just asking for that small slice to fund those two pieces.
“Good or bad, people already think that the NBA provides, subsidizes, supports, creates resources, the W anyway. Put it out there, demonstrate what the guys are willing to do and how they’re willing to invest in (solving) this problem and use it as leverage for other companies.”
David Drabinsky, the vice president of strategy and revenue at JSX, thinks his company can alleviate some of the league’s travel woes. He says conversations about a partnership began this winter between the WNBA and the public charter operator.
Anyone can purchase a ticket to fly JSX, but unlike airlines such as Delta or Southwest, JSX flights depart from private terminals. Its planes have just 30 seats in a one-by-one seating arrangement, enough for a WNBA travel party of around 25 people. Drabinsky told The Athletic in March: “We offer a lot of the benefits of flying private at a fraction of the price.” (Although the cost of a ticket can vary based on route and timing, it is generally competitive with domestic first-class prices.)
Prior to the season, the league permitted teams to book flights for its 40-game season with JSX. Of the WNBA’s 12 markets, it regularly flies out of only the Los Angeles area, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Dallas and Westchester County, N.Y. JSX representatives say they could create one-off flights to other cities, yet league rules have made clear that even if JSX would make such flights available to the public, WNBA teams are prohibited from using those.
Earlier this year, the Las Vegas Aces tried to enhance their travel experience by creating limited available pop-up routes with JSX, as first reported by the Washington Post. The flights would have taken them to cities like Atlanta, Indianapolis and Minneapolis, but the league told the Aces to cancel its June flight from Indianapolis to Connecticut’s Bradley Airport. Additionally, multiple sources, who were granted anonymity because they are unauthorized to discuss the matter publicly, said the WNBA sent a memo to every team about not creating one-off routes. Teams are no longer believed to be booking one-off flights as a result, but the Aces were not fined for doing it. Engelbert says the memo served as a clarification after JSX reached out to teams.
#WNBA allows private travel thru JSX a regional airline. Jonquil Jones spoke abt the commercial trip to Vegas. “You play a long game & sit next to somebody who’s like what do you do?You don’t want to be rude because you want to help grow the league but you’re tired.” @LVSportsBiz pic.twitter.com/K1YPXos2Zz
— The Sportsnista (@TheSportsnista) June 30, 2023
The restriction is perplexing to the WNBPA. “We have a few ownership groups that have not evolved and have not embraced what it means to be innovative,” Jackson says, “what it means to be creative, what it means to be progressive in finding resources and identifying solutions to solve a problem.
“We have folks who want to do it the way they’ve always done it. Period. The end. Because they can’t take the blinders off, they can’t see an opportunity, market that opportunity, leverage that opportunity and I don’t know why. As much as we tout the W as being such a progressive league, I’m not sure why leadership in different pockets of the business are still holding on to old language, archaic notions of what this model could be and should be, instead of looking to really stretch.”
Because it primarily flies out of certain markets, how often a team could use JSX varies, based on their home market and schedule. But the company also says it could fly from Los Angeles to Atlanta, for example, though it would need to make a fuel stop.
Still, even some teams geographically close to JSX’s terminals have not used it. Heading into the All-Star break, Dallas forward Satou Sabally said the Wings had not flown with the carrier. But according to a source, about half the league has either already flown or plans to use JSX this season when their schedules allow for it.
The company touts its flexible scheduling as well as security. Allowing pop-up flights could make WNBA travel easier. “We would love to be the official carrier of the WNBA and work with the teams as much as possible to bring travel to the league in an affordable way that benefits the players and all parties involved,” Drabinsky says.
Engelbert lauds the WNBA’s recent revenue increases, noting that revenue was “flat for four years before I got here and we’re gonna double revenue in three to five years” since she was named commissioner. (Although she declined The Athletic’s request to provide current specifics, Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported in April that the league was projected to bring in between $180 million and $200 million in combined league and team revenue this year.)
“Why is the league valued well over half a billion?” Engelbert asks. “Because we’re a growth property now.”
Still, Engelbert says that to afford a full charter program it needs a “significant revenue source,” with the media rights being among the leading funding options. Its current deal with ESPN runs through 2025.
It appears that for now WNBA players are left hoping for short-term improvements. Jackson points to the WNBPA’s partnership with Farmer’s Fridge, an agreement providing players credits to more than 700 airport vending machines across the country, as a small but meaningful development. It also partnered with CLEAR, a private company that expedites security.
Another future change could be implementing first-class air travel — the CBA requires teams book economy-plus tickets for their players, and while players are allowed to fly first class, they have to pay for it themselves. “The perk of being to have a little bit more space,” says 6-foot-4 Dream center Cheyenne Parker.
As they wait for more charters in the WNBA some players see these other small travel adjustments as meaningful. Others say they would still be inadequate. “Just get us the charter flights,” Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell says. “That’s all I really want.”
(Illustration: Samuel Richardson / The Athletic; Photos: Ethan Miller / Getty Images, iStock)
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Ben Pickman is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the WNBA and women’s college basketball. Previously, he was a writer at Sports Illustrated where he primarily covered women’s basketball and the NBA. He has also worked at CNN Sports and the Wisconsin Center for Journalism Ethics. Follow Ben on Twitter @benpickman