Travel issues and the ongoing fight for more charter flights is the “biggest issue right now” facing the WNBA, according to a panel of players surveyed by Philippou & Voepel of ESPN.com. Thirty-four players were questioned over the last few weeks and more than 50% — 18 total – cited travel “as the primary issue.” Teams take commercial flights “except under few, specific circumstances.” Additionally, while the league allows teams “to use a public chartering service called JSX,” it is “not available in many WNBA cities and franchises are prohibited from working with the airline to create new flight paths.” Sky G Marina Mabrey: “Commercial flights are just insane. You can’t get out at night, sometimes you get delayed, you can’t get out in the morning, then you wait there and wait there and wait there for the bags and stuff. … It’s an absolute waste of time” (ESPN.com, 8/28).
| BIGGEST ISSUES FACING WNBA | ||
| ISSUE | % RESPONDENTS | NO. OF PLAYERS (34) |
| Travel | 52.9% | 18 |
| Other | 20.6% | 7 |
| Salary structure | 8.8% | 3 |
| Security | 5.9% | 2 |
| Visibility | 5.9% | 2 |
| Roster spots | 5.9% | 2 |
