The WNBA’s New York Liberty were reportedly fined a league-record $500,000 for chartering private flights for the players during the second half of the 2021 season.
It was a league record fine, but according to Howard Megdal, the WNBA was mulling something even more drastic.
“After someone alerted the WNBA to the Liberty’s violations, possible remedies floated by the league’s general counsel, Jamin Dershowitz, ranged from losing ‘every draft pick you have ever seen’ to suspending ownership, even ‘grounds for termination of the franchise,’” per SI’s report.
The Tsais, who purchased the Liberty in January 2019, tweeted in July that he was going to “solve this transportation problem for good.”
The New York Liberty is one of the founding franchises of the WNBA, so eliminating them from such a huge market would’ve been castrophic.
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The issue with New York’s charter flights is that it “creates a competitive advantage,” because not all league owners have the means to pay for that level of transportation.
