WNBA’s New York Liberty Fined $500,000 for Chartering Flights for Players

It looks like New York Liberty is in some trouble as the WNBA basketball team was fined $500,000 for chartering private flights during the WNBA second season for away games and an unsanctioned trip to Napa, California. 

ESPN confirms, “The flights were bought by team owners Joe Tsai, co-founder of the Chinese tech company Alibaba Group, and his wife, Clara, who purchased the Liberty and NBA’s Brooklyn Nets in 2019.” 

However, chartering isn’t allowed in the WNBA since some team owners cannot afford the cost arrangements to charter, and it creates a competitive advantage for some teams that have access to the privilege. Tsai was campaigning for better travel accommodations for all franchises of the WNBA, but it looks like the only team that was advantaging from it was his home team. 

Though it’s been an ongoing conversation of whether chartered flights should be allowed, WNBA hasn’t fully supported the decision.

Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird endorses the decision of chartering flights, “I think what charter flights represent in the world of sports is it gives you a little bit of validation. It’s saying that your league is so successful it has the finances to charter flights, which is incredibly expensive. There’s not many businesses that just charter flights left and right. … So I think for a lot of us, it would just be an indicator of that. It’d be an indicator of financial success.”

Sports Illustrated investigated the Liberty team’s social media to find out a chartered flight to Napa. “At the time, Liberty players openly posted on social media about the team’s Napa trip over Labor Day weekend. Sports Illustrated also reported that the WNBA Board of Governors rejected an ‘unofficial proposal,’ spearheaded by the Liberty, in which the league would get comped for three years of chartered flights.” 

A spokesman told ESPN, “At no point was there a New York Liberty proposal for the WNBA Board of Governors to consider offering three years worth of charter flights for WNBA teams. It was agreed that the Liberty would explore opportunities regarding charter flights and present it to the Board. To date, that has not happened.”

Front Office Sports reports on the possible repercussions following the fine. 

The WNBA fined the New York Liberty a league-record $500,000 for taking chartered flights last season against CBA rules, per @SInow.

Other possible remedies included:
➖ Suspending owners
➖"Losing every draft pick you've ever seen"
➖ Even "termination of the franchise" pic.twitter.com/b2yy3OUgfJ

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 1, 2022

Possible repercussions include suspending the owners, losing every draft pick, and “termination of the franchise.”