Minnesota Lynx’s Alanna Smith calls for fair revenue share for players
Tasmania’s Alanna Smith had the best season of her career in the world’s best women’s basketball league. While she was doing this, the WNBA began to burn.
Smith, who has had a stellar season for the Minnesota Lynx, became one of the first Australians to sign for the off-season three-on-three league Unrivaled and was last month named the WNBA’s co-defensive player of the year – the first Australian to earn the honor since Lauren Jackson in 2007.
But as the most watched WNBA season in history comes to a close, tensions between players and the league have reached a boiling point. It focused on one important issue: Players want to be paid more, and they want it in writing by October 31, when the new collective bargaining agreement begins.
If an agreement is not reached, players will be locked out by their teams and their payments will not be made.
Alanna Smith celebrates making a three-pointer against the Phoenix Mercury during the playoff series.Credit: access point
Like most players in the WNBA, Smith is acutely aware of the negotiations.
“It’s no secret that women’s sports, and women’s basketball in particular, are on the rise and that’s why we’re going to make money and we’re going to make money for the leagues for years to come,” he said during a visit to Australia on Tuesday.
WNBA players share no more than 10 percent of league revenue. New York Times I compared this post To the NBA, where players are required to receive 49 percent to 51 percent of the revenue. As a result, the top men’s players earn nearly 200 times more than the top players in the WNBA.
“What happens is [revenue] The number of shares is incredibly low. And there are reasons why this is low; for example, there wasn’t a lot of cash flow coming in… but times are changing and I think that’s why we need to move with the times,” Smith said.
WNBA star Caitlin Clark at the league’s All Star game.Credit: Getty Images
“We’re at a point where we’re starting to see the fruits of our labor, and we deserve a slice of the pie.”
Smith has been close to hell since joining the Minnesota Lynx last year. Her teammate and captain, Napheesa Collier, has become the league’s most outspoken player.
Collier made headlines this month after reading a statement at her postgame press conference criticizing the WNBA’s leadership and saying commissioner Cathy Engelbert said players should “kneel and thank their lucky stars for the media rights deal I gave them.”
Collier isn’t the only one disappointed. More than 40 players checked out of a hotel in Indianapolis in July when CBA negotiations went south. Later that month, every player at the WNBA All-Star weekend wore T-shirts that read “Pay us back.”
When the Las Vegas Aces claimed the championship on October 11, Engelbert was booed by fans during the trophy ceremony.
“It’s not fun to read that stuff. As a player, you want your commissioner to be the players’ commissioner,” Smith said. “And such comments [from Engelbert] It kind of makes you question that.
“There’s a lot of talk right now about repairing the relationship between the commissioner and the players… and I think that’s absolutely necessary, especially given the way the CBA negotiations are going. We all need to be on the same page.”
Alanna Smith received the co-defensive player of the year award.Credit: Getty Images
Following his celebrated year, Smith was named alongside Opals teammate Ezi Magbegor as one of the first Australians to play in a historic breakaway league known as Unrivaled. The three-on-three league, co-founded by Collier in 2023 and held during the WNBA’s offseason, offers some players more than four times their WNBA salaries.
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“Unrivaled is doing a really good job of leveraging that momentum in women’s sports and allowing players to participate in that momentum,” Smith said. “More brands are now interested in WNBA players, more organizations are looking to partner with WNBA players.
“Before, getting brand deals and talking to companies about working with women basketball players was like pulling teeth, now we’re getting the call, and I think Unrivaled is a really good tool for players to access those types of brands and companies that really want to work with WNBA players.”
Opportunities for women’s basketball players have never been more plentiful. Last month, Smith’s other teammates, Natisha Hiedeman and Courtney Williams, also took part. Vogue magazine. Last week, Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese walked the Victoria’s Secret runway. At the top, Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark has an estimated net worth of $11 million.
A rewarding WNBA season and a historic opportunity in the offseason should have Smith celebrating. But as well as congratulations on passing his honors thesis at Monash University, Smith thinks he has a lot more to offer. Not only is he playing ahead of his best game, he also believes it’s his best for the league.
“It feels surreal, honestly,” he said. “I came into the league in 2019, so I’ve been here for two CBAs… I’ve seen the league evolve in real time during the time I’ve been in it, and this is probably the biggest change I’ve seen in the league in terms of changes to the entire system. It’s been great to be on the field and be in those conversations and be aware of those types of things.”
“I’m really grateful to have been a part of something that, in hindsight, will probably be seen as a pivotal moment in this league.”
