NEW YORK - WNBA players are threatening to strike next season if a new deal isn't worked out by the start of training camp. <br>
<br>
Seattle Storm guard Sonja Henning, the president of the WNBA players association, said Tuesday that 100 players discussed the possibility of a work stoppage. The four-year collective bargaining agreement expires Sept. 15, during the offseason. <br>
<br>
``We discussed the idea of getting comfortable with a strike,'' Henning, also a lawyer, said in a conference call. ``Of course we love the game, but understand it's a business. We hope it won't get to that.'' <br>
<br>
WNBA training camps open in April, and the season runs through August. <br>
<br>
Players' salaries make up less than 15 percent of the league's revenue, compared to more than 55 percent of revenue for professional basketball, baseball, football and hockey, WNBPA director Pam Wheeler said. <br>
<br>
A nine-player negotiating committee was formed to increase salaries and marketing rights for players. The WNBA rookie minimum salary is $30,000 for the three-month season and the veteran minimum is $40,000. <br>
<br>
``The players have been extremely reasonable in their demands,'' Wheeler said. ``They've made sacrifices to help make the league grow. Even if (the WNBA) doubles salaries, proportionately it is significantly less (than other pro leagues).'' <br>
<br>
The WNBA will not release financial figures, but league president Val Ackerman has said the 16 teams playing in NBA arenas during the summer do not make a profit. The union argues that salaries should increase because the league is no longer a startup with competition from the ABL, which folded in 1998. <br>
<br>
``We'd be willing to meet at any mutually agreeable time, but to date we have not been contacted by the union,'' WNBA spokesperson Maureen Coyle said. <br>
<br>
Ackerman was not available for comment.
