SSN STALEMATE: COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN NETBALL
The Collective Player Agreement (‘CPA’) for the Suncorp Super Netball League (‘SSN’) between Netball Australia and the Australian Netball Players’ Association (‘ANPA’) expired on October 1st. With no new CPA signing for the 2024 period – zero player contracts have been signed.
A Tough Year for Australian Professional Netball
As the Collingwood Men’s Football team soared to a premiership, it’s been just over 4 months since the Collingwood Club announced their departure from the SSN. Their decision to withdraw their licence at the conclusion of the 2023 season was revealed just 4 games shy of the end of the standard rounds. Their licence was contractually set to cease at the end of 2026. One of the reasons publicised for the decision was that the AFL club had failed to run a “viable netball program” despite earning a $7 million revenue last year. It was a bittersweet goodbye as they won their last ever game against reigning champions, West Coast Fever.
As per the current broadcasting agreement that concludes in 2026, the SSN must have 8 teams to televise 4 games per week. Both the 8th licence and team participation agreements must be sorted before the CPA is formalised. In mid-July, the Sports Entertainment Network was awarded the licence for the 2024–2026 period. Netball Victoria CEO, Andrea Pearman, embraced the decision of Netball Australia to maintain a second Victorian team. On September 22, the official launch of the ‘Melbourne Mavericks’ revealed it will be commanded by Tracey Neville as Coach, alongside Shae Bolton-Brown as General Manager of Netball Operations. The other 7 clubs followed suit by announcing their coaching teams for the 2024 season. The only piece of the puzzle left is each team’s official player roster.
Collective Bargaining
The CPA is a collective bargaining agreement that governs the formal relationship between Netball Australia and the ANPA. Whilst these agreements are tailored to each sport, they will often cover base salaries, injury grievances, medical rights, retirement, club discipline, and non-injury grievances. The CPA dispute is in regard to details of the pay and conditions across the league, including a potential revenue share for players.
These types of agreements often assist in placing players on an equal footing during the contractual process, and they prioritise the interest of the league rather than a specific club. However, the current situation shows that when an agreement cannot be reached it can get quite messy. For example: Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan said that while they are committed to negotiations, “netball as a whole” is not in a financial position to meet ANPA demands without damaging the future of the sport. However, the same leadership team accrued $4.2 million of debt during the pandemic.
In a commercially driven context, Netball Australia as the governing body seems to have the upper hand in these negotiations. An example is the journey to the Diamonds 12th World Cup title being anything but golden. The 2023 Netball World Cup took place in Cape Town between 28 July – 6 August. It was reported that Netball Australia initially refused to name the national squad until an agreement was signed with ANPA. It caused widespread criticism and was labelled as “outrageous behaviour” by former Australian Diamonds’ Coach Lisa Alexander. Eventually, a temporary truce was called to announce the players being sent to the World Cup, alongside an interim agreement.
The Future?
A club licence termination, a new replacement club, Netball Australia $4.2 million debt, and CPA negotiations stalemating have culminated to the harsh reality that 80 professional netballers have entered an ambiguous and unprecedented time without pay. Kim Green, former Diamond with 74 international caps, emphasized the prolonged stress of this contracting year. Notable veterans of the sport have departed Australia as they secured contracts in competing overseas leagues, and many others have announced their departure from their current 2023 club without officially securing their future in another SSN team.
This stalemate, a first of its kind for professional netball in Australia, will eventually be resolved regardless of whether it comes in the near or later future. For the wellbeing of players, the sooner the better. However, the question will be on what ripple effects this will cause for the administration of netball as a whole, in both domestic and international forms.
REFERENCES
https://supernetball.com.au/news/eighth-licence-awarded
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-25/collingwood-magpies-withdraw-from-super-netball/102392404
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-19/the-super-netball-team-blueprint/102493636
https://diamonds.netball.com.au/news/diamonds-world-cup-team-revealed