Look: WNBA Is Reportedly Dealing With ‘Fake Problem’

PALMETTO, FL – AUGUST 29: A basketball lies near the WNBA logo during a timeout of a game between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty at Feld Entertainment Center on August 29, 2020 in Palmetto, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that by downloading and/or using this photograph, user accepts the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

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As WNBA superstar Brittney Griner prepares to return to the Phoenix Mercury for the 2023 season, a problem emerges that some say isn’t as bad as the people it bothers.

On Wednesday, USA Today’s Lindsay Schnell reported that WNBA players were at odds with WNBA top brass over the league’s reluctance to secure charter flights for all teams, like most other professional leagues. get for their players. It is believed that the Phoenix Mercury will need charter flights this year due to security risks for Griner.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert pleaded poverty, saying the WNBA cannot charter flights without airline help or a lot more sponsorship money. But Schnell is not convinced.

In a follow-up report, Schnell pointed out that his sources told him it was a “non-issue” and that the NBA could easily subsidize the cost of charter flights to and from all games.

“I’ve written about BG flying privately and the WNBA currently doesn’t allow charters…pretty much everyone I’ve spoken to agrees that this is a nonsense. The NBA has a lot of money and could easily afford charters,” Schnell tweeted.

The WNBA generates approximately $60 million in revenue annually. While that’s still not enough to make the league profitable, things are moving in the right direction.

But it’s going to be hard for the WNBA to be taken seriously if it struggles with so many things that are fundamental to being a true professional sports league.

Is this problem really as difficult to solve as it seems?