Commentary: WNBA players and their most loyal fans bring their message to the masses

INDIANAPOLIS – This is how it sounds when a fight goes public.

Inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse following the WNBA All-Star Game, chants from the lower bowl began organically, and earnestly. Before the Saturday evening showcase, the players said nothing as they stripped their warmup jackets and revealed a message in black and white – “Pay Us What You Owe Us.” But by night’s end, the fans were amplifying their desire.

A crowd of mostly women cupped their hands to their mouths so that their voices could ring louder, or they pumped their fists to show they weren’t messing around. They cried out in unison, even though they were strangers. But during this impromptu demonstration, they were aligned in their devotion to the workforce of the WNBA. They were really sisters.

Together they shouted: “Pay them!”

And from inside these walls, their shouts reached the ears of the players. Then, social media. Then, a world where the demands of women who dare to be confrontational aren’t always met with acceptance.

The players’ quest for a better collective bargaining agreement with league owners has now gone mainstream, thanks to a choreographed weekend in downtown Indianapolis where repeating the message proved more important than playing in an exhibition game.

“We understand what we want and what we’re looking for within the CBA. We’re all unified within the players, and obviously, it was really cool for our fans to be involved, too. They also want us to be paid,” New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud told me in the bowels of the arena late Saturday night.

So they landed on “Pay Us What You Owe Us” as the simplified version. They made their beef, billed as the eternal fight of Corporate America versus The People, as bite-sized and palatable as possible to grab attention and gain support. Those words should resonate with all of us. But will they?

The marketable all-stars appearing in all the commercials, and the role players making around $102,000 now face their toughest task yet: finding public support among a new fan base that just showed up to the party.

As with many professional leagues outside of the Big Four (the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL), the WNBA has existed beyond a velvet rope. Only the most passionate believers in basketball gained access. By no means should this imply that the WNBA has operated like a country club, or restricted access to anyone willing to buy a ticket. But throughout most of its 27 years, a game in the W has felt like a cultural gathering. A safe space in sports that supported girls and women, especially women of the LGBTQ community who either were performing on the court or rooting in the stands.

So, the players’ fight for higher salaries plays well among the O.G.’s from way back in 1996, and the friendlies who showed up for All-Star Weekend. They are the ones who brought the overpriced merch and cheered along anyway even though players masked their skills in silliness during an All-Star Game that felt as soulless as the NBA’s.

Just a few words on that All-Star Game, because that’s all it deserves: Team Collier defeated Team Clark, 151-131 because no one pretended to put in any sort of effort. A’ja Wilson played in a full face of makeup, you actually think she came to compete? The all-stars bemoaned the short break, and with having to make brand appearances, or entertain in the Friday night skills challenge and 3-point contest, or pretty much party all weekend on a nonstop live stream powered by Minnesota Lynx teammates Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman, most players understandably pumped the brakes on going hard in the game.

Despite watching the equivalent of a Saturday night shootaround, the true blue fans still stuck around until the end to stand on the front lines, because they appreciate every woman on an WNBA roster. Unlike the recent fans who are aghast that the league hasn’t already made Caitlin Clark’s silhouette the logo.

And yet, those are who the Women’s National Basketball Players Association need to win over. While the older fans will eat up the players’ P.R., this new crowd remains on a strict diet of all things C.C. They might not be aware that activism isn’t just trendy in the WNBA, it’s the essence of the league. The players have worn black and white T-shirts before – to make a statement to “Say Her Name” or remind anyone paying attention that “Change Starts With Us.”

Well, now the protest centers on profits. And isn’t that the biggest indicator that this truly American sports enterprise has grown up.

The WNBA is bigger now. No longer can it be derided as a niche. Clark and her transcendent talent ushered in a tsunami of popularity, and her arrival coincided with a stretch commissioner Cathy Engelbert refers to as “hyper growth,” which includes league expansion. The women know money’s about to flow in with the upcoming and ceiling-shattering $2.2 billion media rights deal. Now they want the world to know: it’s payday.

“I would say first and foremost, the mission was accomplished because we built a critical amount of awareness this weekend. So, obviously proud on that,” said Los Angeles Sparks all-star Kelsey Plum, also the first vice president on the players’ association executive committee. “I think continuing to have our foot on the gas, in our messaging. Not just to the media, but to each other and (planning) next steps. We’re in a negotiation, just call it what it is. And so obviously, you’re going back and forth on both sides. And … being unified in what we want, and that’s been great (from) day one. We have to wait for the league’s response to us privately and then you know, we’ll deal with it then and we’ll figure out our next move.”

If the players want to keep applying pressure to Engelbert and the owners, then expect more surprise demonstrations on the court. And with these negotiations now in the court of public opinion, they also must keep trying to educate all the newbies, teaching them about the league and the nuanced workings of the CBA.

Plus, humanizing the workforce so they’re not simply seen as those women trying to injure Caitlin Clark. Or as unappreciative athletes who should be happy making the coins they’re provided, and not demanding more. That fight is only beginning.