Report: WNBA proposed terminating Liberty as franchise over charter flights
The WNBA fined the New York Liberty $500,000 for the team's improper use of charter flights throughout the 2021 season, according to Sports Illustrated's Howard Megdal - but the penalty for running afoul of the current collective bargaining agreement could have been significantly steeper.
In response to the team clandestinely taking charter flights for each road game from mid-August onward, the league's general counsel proposed a number of punishments, including stripping the Liberty of future draft picks, suspending Joseph and Clara Wu Tsai's ownership of the team, or even terminating the franchise altogether, according to a Sept. 21, 2021, missive obtained by Sports Illustrated.
Instead, the Liberty were fined a league-record $500,000, negotiated down from $1 million, and Liberty executive Oliver Weisberg was removed from the WNBA's executive committee.
The current CBA requires teams to take commercial flights, though players must receive "premium economy" seating if available - but even well-heeled owners like Joseph Tsai are prohibited from chartering private flights.
The Liberty also took a trip to Napa Valley over Labor Day weekend that violated the CBA as a benefit exceeding the allowable compensation to players.
On rare occasions - and at the league's discretion - charter flights have been commissioned due to limited time between playoff games. This was the case between Games 2 and 3 of the 2021 Finals between the Chicago Sky and Phoenix Mercury, per ESPN's Mechelle Voepel.
Last September, the Liberty purportedly pitched a plan to make charter flights the default travel mode for all teams, with the added expense covered for all 12 franchises for three years, a source told Sports Illustrated. The proposal failed to gain support among the majority of owners; some reportedly worried about the potential long-term costs of establishing a higher standard.
The WNBA says that the Liberty never presented such a proposal to the league.
"It was agreed that the Liberty would explore opportunities regarding charter flights and present it to the Board (of Governors)," a WNBA spokesperson said in a statement to theScore. "To date, that has not happened."