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Charter flights will officially be part of the WNBA.
The league made it official Thursday evening that it would be phasing in a full league-wide charter program at the start of this season, which begins on Tuesday.
The program will primarily be operated by Delta Airlines, the league said in a statement, and comes after years of lobbying from players to allow for the practice, which is standard across men’s major professional sports leagues.
“We are thrilled to announce the launch of a full charter program as soon as practical for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, a testament to the continued growth of the WNBA,” Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “We have been hard at work to transform the business and build a sustainable economic model to support charter flights for the long term.
“While we still have a lot of work to do to continue to execute our strategic plan, we feel confident that the time is now to institute a full charter program to demonstrate our commitment to leading with a player-first agenda.”
Engelbert had said in a meeting with sports editors in New York earlier this week that charter flights would be coming to the WNBA this season, which set off celebration among players across the league.
Outside of select occasions, charter flights were barred for WNBA teams in the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the players union.
The players had been putting more pressure on the league to allow for charter flights over the past few years and have been buoyed by new ownership groups across the league – including the Liberty and Las Vegas Aces – that have shown a willingness to invest in its players.
“I am thrilled to see a significant change in policy that will permit and provide charter travel across all teams throughout the 2024 season and going forward,” WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike said. “On behalf of the players, I express my appreciation and support for a bold move by the Commissioner and team governors that in turn shows that they understand and value the health and safety of the players. It is time to be transformational. It’s time to bet on women.”
The change comes amid a growing spotlight on the WNBA coming off a season that saw one of its original franchises back in the league championship and on the cusp of starting a new campaign with one of the biggest women’s basketball players on the planet entering the league in Caitlin Clark.
A slew of young stars have entered the league, including Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and Cameron Brink among others.
