Savanna Hamilton

Also confirmed here: -Rosters now must carry 12 players and have 2 developmental player spots (that don't count against the cap) -Schedule footprint expands to up to 50 games in 2027 and 2028, and up to 52 games in 2029 through 2032

An update on the WNBA CBA Negotiations on NBA Today: there is optimism that an agreement will be reached — it’s a matter of if, not when. The biggest sticking point right now is the revenue share, @alexaphilippou reports:

Every day feels like groundhog’s day at this point… We’ve heard that there has been ‘progress’ since this time last week… #WNBACBA

WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson confirmed progress is being made toward a CBA. But a delay to the 2026 season could not be ruled out as WNBA labor talks stretch into a 7th day here in midtown Manhattan. espn.com/wnba/story/_/i…

We're hiring! We need passionate, driven, life of the party individuals to bring our Tempo game days to life. If you thrive in a fast-paced, live event environment, apply at the link in our bio! 🥳

About to talk WNBA CBA on CBC Radio! If you’re in Toronto tune into Here & Now to get caught up!

The crazy part, is that no matter what the WNBA does with salaries, every star college player will take a pay cut to play in the WNBA I asked a few ADs what the going rate is for the star player on a power conference WBB team -$500k to $1.2m. And, you are always a free agent with the portal. You get your room and board paid for. And you can get a good education if you work at it. It’s all subsidized by donors and shared school revenues. Which makes it more similar to Europe, where companies subsidize teams , than to the WNBA In the NBA, a team can’t go to a sponsor and negotiate a direct payment deal for a player. In college they effectively can with NIL money. When I have written checks to IU, I knew which players were trying to get with the money (although I never tie the money to specific players. It’s up to them ) The WNBA needs to look at allowing the same thing. Let the teams go to local sponsors and work out payments to players as part of sponsorship packages. The big name players have agents to do this. The rest make minimal amounts. With or without an agent. Let WNBA teams pay “NIL” money to its players. It’s counter intuitive for NBA folks, but here is the issue. WNBA teams don’t have the margin dollars from tickets, sponsors and shared revenues like tv to pay bigger salaries using their own cash flow. With help from the league , they could create NIL deals with sponsors that go directly to the players. From the sponsors. Make it legal. Create a cap per player, based on years of experience. Yes, some teams will suck at it, that’s where the wnba comes in to help. They will suck at it as well for some period. But like collegiate NIL, the sponsorship packages will supplement player salaries without undermining the economics of the teams and league itself. The next question will be competitive balance issues. The big markets can do this better. They have a great addressable market for sponsors. The wnba could require that some percentage of the NIL money deals go into a pool for a version of revenue share. This is effectively what happens (or did ) with jersey ads. I remember advocating that the jersey ads be split with all teams, because the greatest value to sponsors comes not from local tv or games, but from national tv, playoffs and jersey sales. This would be similar. Obviously I’m just spitballing this , but if they came on shark tank , that’s what I would suggest ! What do you think ?

* @cbcsports EXCLUSIVE* Had a sit down chat with @TempoBasketball head coach, Sandy Brondello. We talked building a team (without players!!!) Toronto, her vision is for the franchise, and poutine versus vegemite. cbc.ca/sports/basketb…

WNBA SCHEDULE RELEASE: The Toronto Tempo will play their home opener on Friday, May 8th against the Washington Mystics at 7:30pm ET! It will be held at Coca-Cola Coliseum! 📍

A full day of CBC radio hits across Canada breaking down where the WNBA CBA negotiations are at! ’Tis the season. 🎙️

Chile…..

Hi Canada, daylight starts to increase in 4 days.

I have no words for the send off I just got from my family at ESPN. I’m so humbled. I’m so emotional. I’m so grateful. I’ll have more to say - but right now I’m just overwhelmed and soaking in my family on my sons bday. Thank you to everyone who watched. ILYSM

News: Hall of Famer and four-time DPOY Sylvia Fowles is joining the Portland Fire as an assistant coach for the team’s inaugural season, sources tell ESPN. Fowles will be at the front of the bench assisting head coach Alex Sarama espn.com/wnba/story/_/i…

I need Toronto people to understand that THIS used to be the standard and that the CIBC logo ain’t that bad 😂😭 The team logo is IN THE TOP CORNER hahaha

Some cool news from Unrivaled. Unrivaled announced the expansion of a multi-year partnership with Sephora. With the partnership, the Miami headquarters will be called "Sephora Arena."

BREAKING: Sources told @TheAthletic the league’s salary structure proposal would result in players receiving less than 15% of total league revenue That, plus NEWS on nearly 10 more proposal items, including a proposed DRAFT COMBINE (!) nytimes.com/athletic/68574…

Uhmmm, how about no. IMO: Moving the start date up is a WNBA-prioritization strategy… especially now that offseason options are offering rev share while dealing multi-million dollar contracts (hi Project B). But the goal of CBA talks is to bridge the gap, not widen the divide. Pulling the calendar forward raises real questions: are you drafting players while they’re still in class? Before March Madness which is arguably the biggest brand-building stage for college players? What happens to prospect workouts and training camp for rookies? And then cutting team housing on top of that? If that’s the case, the WNBA has to make the money, rev share and resources around the players worth it. If this is in fact true, the pot is stirred.

Today, with a heart full of gratitude, I am announcing my retirement from the career I’ve always dreamed of.   It’s been an incredible journey filled with countless memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. 🏀❤️

Cutting 25 sports teams from university programming shouldn’t even be a topic of conversation - but here we are. 🤦🏽‍♀️ Check out this segment where @ArashMadani and I break down the repercussions of this short sighted decision.