NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA has had a record year in terms of viewership and viewership growth, and with that players now want a bigger piece of the financial pie.

The players' union and the league have until November 1 to potentially opt out of their current collective bargaining agreement. It's likely the players will decide to do so before the deadline, as they have a list of wants, including increased salaries now that the WNBA has reached a historic 11-year run Media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC for $200 million a year.

Breanna Stewart said there have been meetings within the players' union, of which she is vice president. With her team, the New York Liberty, she hasn't managed to achieve as many as she would have liked WNBA Finals at the moment.

“They were good, a lot of communication, things we want to do better, the time is coming,” Stewart said. “It's difficult to find your way while the season is still going on. I think we're pretty much at a point where we know what we want to do.

“Once we do it, it will be a tough battle for the new season if we talk about it.”

If the union pulls out, the current CBA, which was set to expire in 2027, will remain in effect next season, giving the two sides a year to reach an agreement.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in her State of the League address before Game 1 of the Finals that she has worked with union leadership throughout the year.

“This will be an opportunity to listen to each other and take this league to the next level for generations to come,” Engelbert said. “I’m looking forward to building the future of the league and sitting with the players. Whether they unsubscribe, not unsubscribe.

“I suspect that given the transformation of the league that we have worked so hard to build, building this long-term economic model, we have already gone back to the players through charter by increasing playoff bonuses by over 50 a few years ago have.” %. That’s why we will continue to do that and when we are at the negotiating table we will continue to talk about the issues that matter most to the players.”

Engelbert said the league's strength is enormous with the conclusion of the new media rights agreement and many additional corporate partners. She went on to say that players have signed many more marketing deals, making them more household names.

“There is virtually no sporting event where one of our players is not featured in a commercial,” she said. “This didn’t exist five years ago. Look at Aliyah Boston and Sabrina (Ionescu) and A'ja (Wilson) and so many of our players in these commercials. I think that’s also a good sign as we think about the future of this game and the future of the agreement between the Players Association and the owners.”

Stewart said the union would like to see a few things in the next CBA, including pensions, better childcare benefits and higher salaries. She would also like to see the charter system the league adopted this year put into writing.

“One thing I find really interesting is the pensions and back pay for players who have x years of service,” Stewart said. “The other thing is that family planning and child care services can be a little better.”

Currently, a player must have played in the league for eight years to benefit.

“Eight years of service is a really long time,” Stewart said. “Not many players have been in the league for eight years.”

Stewart also said she would like to see teams have the opportunity to have a million-dollar player. Currently, the top salary is around $250,000.

“I think we need to make sure the salary cap continues to rise and correlate with the TV deal,” she said. “I don’t know how you break it down.”

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