Kelly Krauskopf, President of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever and a member of the WNBA’s labor committee, was asked about the ongoing collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations during USC’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day event on Monday.
USC Annenberg Dean Willow Bay brought up the labor strife early, asking how the league will align the needs of the sport with the tension it has with the players.
“We’re in the first era…where there’s a specific rights fee,” Krauskopf answered. “We’re scaling the business as quickly as we can, and it’s happened quickly. You need more teams, you need more games…you need more talent. There are a lot of things happening very quickly.”
It would’ve been difficult for Dean Bay to avoid asking questions about the ongoing labor negotiations. Early on Monday, the WNBA met with the Players’ Association (WNBPA). After two deadline extensions, the two have yet to come to terms for a new CBA framework. While the players’ union submitted a proposal in December, the league did not come to the table with a counteroffer or a response.
The two sides are struggling to agree on revenue sharing and how high a salary cap should be. The league wants revenue sharing to be calculated by net revenue, while the players’ union proposal builds a revenue sharing model around gross revenue. The WNBA claims that such a proposal would threaten the league’s financial stability. The relationship between players and the league grew even more tense when Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collins publicly shared comments made by WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert, including disparaging comments aimed towards the Fever’s own star guard Caitlin Clark. Collins is both vice president of the players’ union and co-founder of the competing women’s league, Unrivaled. Engelbert’s comments did not sit well with some of the players around the league.
When asked if the league was willing to lose games in 2026 in order to guarantee its preferred terms, Krauskopf said, “I wish I could answer any question around the CBA, but I just can’t. I don’t think anybody wants to lose games next season, so that’s a personal thought for me.”
Earlier in the discussion, Krauskopf spoke about how much the WNBA has grown during her tenure with the Fever, and how the organization had to scale up its staff after Clark joined the team in 2024. The significance of the WNBA’s growth is not lost on Krauskopf.
“We’re building another pillar in American culture…we have not seen anything like this,” Krauskopf said. “It happened quickly, with brands aligning with women athletes…because of the authenticity…it’s fresh, it’s new.”
Krauskopf has been a part of the WNBA, or “the W”, since the late 1990s, when she became the league’s director of operations. She then became the Fever’s general manager in 2000, a position she would hold for 17 years. After a shorter stint with the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, Krauskopf returned to the Fever as team president in 2025.
Generally, Krauskopf seemed optimistic about the future of the WNBA, and its place in both sports and American culture. With growing revenues and increasing viewership, that optimism is well-founded. However, if there is anything that could quash this momentum, it is a fragile relationship between players and the league finally snapping.