FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Basketball - Women's Semifinal - United States vs Australia - Bercy Arena, Paris, France - August 09, 2024. Former soccer player Megan Rapinoe attends the match. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retired soccer great Megan Rapinoe advised WNBA players to "go for the jugular" after they announced they would opt out of their collective bargaining agreement this week on the heels of a blockbuster season.
The WNBA saw record viewership and attendance this year and in July inked a television deal worth a reported $200 million per season. The previous pay and conditions agreement was set to run through 2027 and players and the league will instead renegotiate after the 2025 season.
"My initial thought is 'Go for the jugular,' always," Rapinoe told Reuters on Thursday.
"Really having your sights set on the future because they obviously are opting out early for a reason... it's already totally obsolete."
The twice World Cup winner was the public face of the pay equity fight in sport in the United States when she and her national team mates sued their federation demanding better pay and playing conditions in 2019.
She pointed to the surge in interest in the league this year - spurred on by star-studded rookie class that includes Caitlin Clark - as reason to "go really big."
"For the owners and for the W as well, this is sort of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Rapinoe, who spoke to Reuters after appearing at a panel discussion for the ION network.
The Olympic gold medallist retired at the end of 2023 and has set about charting her own course through business with fiance Sue Bird, the five-time Olympic gold medalist who earned a record 13 All-Star inclusions during her WNBA career.
Bird, who is in the ownership group for the Seattle Storm, quipped "It's my jugular!" when Rapinoe leveled her advice, but the couple are perfectly aligned with their production company A Touch More and popular podcast of the same name.
The pair have been at the forefront of women's sport in the U.S., with Bird having joined the WNBA just five years after it launched and Rapinoe having played her whole career in the NWSL after joining the league in its inaugural season.
Partners in life and in business, their podcast has taken off on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify and the pair are enjoying watching the women's sports surge even from the sidelines.
"The excitement is there, the fandom is there," said Rapinoe. "It's a real testament to all the work the players have done and the larger business around it but also this is a real shift in the business of women’s sports."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
