The WNBA has begun implementing its regular-season charter program for the start of the 2024 campaign, with the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx flying privately to their opening day games in Connecticut and Seattle, respectively.
But officials from several teams told ESPN they have not heard from the league about when they might be licensed as the WNBA prepares to begin its 28th season on Tuesday. And teams that have begun chartering are still waiting to find out whether they will be chartered for subsequent away games, a source said.
“It’s a good problem to have because we get here and we’re talking about charter travel,” WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson told ESPN on Monday. “Now, at this moment, the league has found the path to yes. It appears that the path has a few more obstacles than perhaps necessary.”
The league officially announced Thursday that a full program would be “phased out beginning with the start of the 2024 regular season,” according to a statement. The news first broke Tuesday, when commissioner Cathy Engelbert told a group of sports editors that the league was poised to move to full charter “as soon as we can get the planes in place.”
The league’s plan will cost $25 million per year over the next two seasons. Previously, WNBA teams could only charter during the postseason and for regular season games on consecutive days that required air travel.
Details about the implementation of that plan began to emerge on Monday when Indiana guard Erica Wheeler posted a video of a chartered flight as the team headed to Connecticut for the season opener against the Sun. Minnesota also confirmed to ESPN that they are chartering out west to face the Storm.
Two-time league MVP Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty posted on social media that night that New York was traveling by bus to Washington, D.C.; the team is currently scheduled to fly commercially from the nation’s capital to Indiana for its Thursday meeting against the Fever.
To complete the first two days of league competition, the Phoenix Mercury travels to Las Vegas, the Chicago Sky to Dallas and the Atlanta Dream to Los Angeles, all on commercial flights. In a town hall held on Monday, the commissioner asked players for time as the league works to implement its full charter plan, a source told ESPN.
“2 in 5 WNBA teams traveling today are under WNBA licenses – and that’s a win. It could be a bigger win if the W allowed teams that haven’t received League licenses to secure their own until a complete solution of 12 teams was ready,” Stewart posted on social media.
“I think in implementation there is an opportunity for us to be transformative together,” Jackson said. “And I think there’s still time for us to do that.”
The WNBA had no comment when asked by ESPN.
The overwhelming feeling around the league is one of gratitude that the charter was implemented much sooner than expected, even if some teams will have to wait a little longer to take advantage of it. Some expressed a preference that all 12 teams could begin using it at the same time, especially since the league has previously said that teams cannot finance their own contracts because it would represent a competitive advantage over franchises who could not afford it.
“It seemed like if they were worried about a competitive advantage, they would have implemented it differently,” Jackson said.
The league’s lack of communication, in turn, affects short-term logistical planning and prevents organizations from canceling and getting any money back on commercial travel plans they made for the rest of the regular season.
“This is a big change and it’s a big deal,” Jackson said. “And the more communication around that is helpful, the better.”
ESPN’s Michael Voepel also contributed to this report.
