Mo’ne Davis was preparing for a Women’s Professional Baseball League scrimmage when the Women’s National Basketball Association and its players agreed to a landmark collective bargaining agreement last month.
Davis, who rose to stardom as a Little League pitching sensation, followed developments as WNBA players negotiated historic salaries. As she enters the inaugural season of the WPBL, Davis sees those record gains as a signal to the next generation of female athletes about what is possible.
“Wanting to be a WNBA player growing up, and seeing it not be as huge as it is now and just seeing the growth, it’s amazing,” Davis said. “I’m excited for what’s to come.”
As the WNBA prepares to tip off its milestone 30th season Friday night but its first under the new CBA, emerging women’s pro sports leagues for sports including baseball and hockey are looking at that progress as a promising roadmap for growth. At the same time, leaders of those fledgling leagues recognize the WNBA’s growth was shaped by decades of player advocacy, work stoppage threats and athletes playing elsewhere to supplement their incomes.
“The WNBA is definitely an example of a league that had to grind and keep showing its worth over and over,” said Justine Siegal, a co-founder of the WPBL, which is set to debut in August. “The recognition is overdue and well deserved. For us as a new women’s pro league, we don’t see it as the beginning. We see it is we’re part of a momentum that fans want to see.”