New York Liberty was thrown into the penalty area of the WNBA because they had the audacity to provide their players with better flight conditions.
Sports Illustrated reported that Liberty was fined $ 500,000 for violating the league’s rules for providing the team with charter flights paid for by Joe and Clara Wu Tsai. The team trip to Napa was also considered an inadmissible benefit.
“Can your owners do that ??” Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu asked TikTok, sharing a video of the trip to Napa.
The fine is not significant for the Tsai family – Joe Tsai is listed as the ninth richest man in the world by Forbes with an estimated net worth of $ 8.7 billion and he bought an apartment in Brooklyn for $ 157 million last July.
However, Liberty were threatened with much more severe consequences.
After someone warned the WNBA about Liberty’s violations, possible remedies offered by league chief adviser Jamin Derschowitz ranged from losing “every draft choice you’ve ever seen” to stopping ownership, even “grounds for termination. of the franchise, “according to until September 21, 2021, communication between the league and Freedom,” said SI.
Many observers will think it is wild that this is a problem. It sounds almost like a problem we’re used to hearing about in the NCAA, not in professional sports.
The point is that the WNBA’s collective agreement prohibits charter flights, calling it a competitive advantage.
According to SI, about half of the teams in the league are profitable. There is some division between the owners of the old guard and the new ones like Tsais (who owns the Brooklyn Nets) and Mark Davis (the owner of the Raiders, who also controls Las Vegas Aces), who owns other professional sports teams and seems amazed at player comfort constraints. .
The WNBA’s economy would come as a surprise to many.
Tsais bought Liberty, the largest market in America, somewhere in the range of 10-14 million dollars in 2019, according to CNBC.
The entire WNBA salary limit is $ 1.3 million, which raised eyebrows when Davis gave Becky Haman seven figures a year to train Asata.
“[A]xxx, yes, @WNBA, where the head coach can get 4 times the highest paid players super max contract. Lmao and you all think I have to spend another season improving my space in flight to get to the games out of my own pocket, ”said Liz Cambage of WNBA’s All Star tweeted in February.
The issue of Liberty and charter flights may be a wild enough story to cross and create some awareness of WNBA player compensation and lack of other amenities.
“WNBA owners need to be able to invest in their team by providing better working conditions.” tweets SNY presenter Maria Marino. “If the other owners do not want to and this puts their club at a disadvantage in the competition, it is their duty. It comes down to appreciating women athletes. ”