When Survivor premiered, it helped usher in a new era of reality TV.

當《倖存者》首播時，它協助開啟了實境節目的新時代。

The show has evolved over its 50 seasons and fans have debated changes to the game for years.

這檔節目在播出的 50 季中不斷演進，粉絲們多年來也持續爭論著比賽的變化。

So what's the best Survivor season of all time?

那麼，有史以來最棒的《倖存者》賽季是哪一季呢？

We'll get into it on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour.

我們將在 NPR 的《流行文化歡樂時光》節目中深入探討。

Listen via the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

透過 NPR App 或任何您收聽播客的地方來收聽。

This is Planet Money from NPR.

這裡是 NPR 的《地球錢包》節目。

There's this player in the WNBA, her name is Alicia Clark, who has kind of a reputation.

WNBA 有位球員名叫艾莉西亞·克拉克，她在那裡小有名氣。

I think my teammates would describe me as a tough,

我想我的隊友會形容我是一個強悍、

gritty, winning, like a winner.

堅毅、求勝心強，就像個贏家。

Can you go into a winner a little bit?

妳能詳細說明一下「贏家」的意思嗎？

Like, what does that mean?

像是，那代表什麼？

I'm gonna be in the right position at the right time.

我會在正確的時間出現在正確的位置。

I'm gonna be prepared.

我會做好準備。

Yeah, I just want to win at all costs and whatever that looks like,

是的，我只想不惜一切代價贏球，無論那看起來如何，

whatever I need to do is what I'll do.

無論我需要做什麼，我都會去做。

So, and I have a track record of winning.

所以，而且我一直有著贏球的紀錄。

Yeah, she's understating it a little bit.

是啊，她說得有點太輕描淡寫了。

Actually, when we were talking to her,

事實上，當我們在跟她聊天時，

the only time she seemed kind of bored

她唯一看起來有點無聊的時候，

was when she was listing her accomplishments.

就是當她在列舉她的成就時。

Going back to high school, like, I want to stay championship.

回到高中時期，就像是，我想維持冠軍地位。

She went on to win championships in college and in overseas leagues.

她後來在大學和海外聯賽中都贏得了冠軍。

Then in the WNBA, winning three championships with three of the, how many teams have I played for?

接著在 WNBA，在三支——我曾經效力過幾支球隊？——球隊中贏得了三次冠軍。

So just to be clear, we're talking to a three-time WNBA champion.

所以先說明清楚，我們正在與一位三屆 WNBA 冠軍對話。

Yes.

是的。

Awesome.

太棒了。

But recently, she took part in a competition that had higher stakes

但最近，她參加了一項利害關係更為重大的競爭，

than any game she's ever played.

比她以往參加過的任何比賽都要重大。

Alicia knows long-grueling workouts.

艾莉西亞對於長久且折磨人的鍛鍊非常熟悉。

She's learned dozens of defensive schemes and offensive plays.

她已經學過數十種防守體系和進攻戰術。

She's used to practicing, preparing, strategizing.

她習慣於練習、準備和制定策略。

But this was a totally different kind of endurance challenge.

但這是一場完全不同類型的耐力挑戰。

Because instead of running drills,

因為她不再是進行反覆的體能訓練，

she was studying contracts and labor law.

而是正在研究合約和勞工法。

You know, taking the time to sit down and go through this 300-page document and read.

你知道的，就是花時間坐下來，仔細研讀這份 300 頁的文件。

And if there's something I didn't understand, I googled it.

如果有我不懂的地方，我就會去 Google 搜尋。

And I'm like, okay, what does X, Y and Z mean?

然後我就會覺得，好吧，X、Y 和 Z 是什麼意思？

Oh, okay, got it.

喔，好，明白了。

And so then I would go back and reread a section

接著我會回頭重新閱讀某個部分

and then if there were questions, hey, I saw this.

如果有疑問，我就會說，嘿，我看到了這個。

What exactly does this mean?

這到底是什麼意思？

She's doing all of this studying because for the first time in her life,

她做這麼多研究是因為這是她人生中第一次，

she was going to be negotiating the contract for all the players in the WNBA.

她將要為所有 WNBA 球員進行合約談判。

And look, it's normal for players to be involved in collective bargaining.

聽著，球員參與集體談判是很正常的。

When union workers sign a new contract with their employers,

當工會勞工與雇主簽署新合約時，

some of the actual workers have to be part of the negotiations.

一些實際的勞工必須參與談判。

So Alicia was going to be one of the players negotiating over things like

所以 Alicia 將成為參與談判的球員之一，討論諸如

parental leave for a 1K matching, housing stipends,

育嬰假、401k 提撥、住房津貼，

and most importantly, pay.

最重要的是，薪資。

What was not normal was how potentially historic this new contract could be.

不尋常的是，這份新合約可能具有多麼重大的歷史意義。

The WNBA has seen astronomical growth since the players got their last contract

自從球員們簽下上一份合約以來，WNBA 見證了天文數字般的增長。

six years ago.

六年前。

And the players were saying, wait a minute, this is our moment.

球員們當時說，等一下，這是屬於我們的時刻。

We want our fair share.

我們想要我們應得的公平份額。

Our share should grow as the business grows because we're the reason the business is growing.

我們的收益應隨業務成長而增加，因為我們正是業務成長的原因。

All Alicia and the other negotiators had to do was get the league to agree.

艾莉西亞和其他談判代表唯一要做的，就是讓聯盟點頭同意。

Hello and welcome to Planet Money.

哈囉，歡迎收聽《星球經濟學》。

I'm Erica Baris and I'm Emma Peasley.

我是 Erica Baris，我是 Emma Peasley。

Alicia Clark and the other players had a once in a generation opportunity

艾莉西亞·克拉克和其他球員擁有一個世代難逢的機會，

to change the future for all of women's basketball and maybe all of women's sports.

去改變所有女子籃球，甚至是所有女子體育運動的未來。

And it came right down to the buzzer.

最終在最後一刻才分出勝負。

Today on the show, we go court side to one of the most important union negotiations

今天的節目中，我們將前往場邊，關注職業運動史上最重要的工會談判之一。

in professional sports history and learn what it's like to be a rookie doing high stakes bargaining

並了解作為一名菜鳥參與高風險討價還價是什麼感覺。

from bluffs and puffs to strategic silence and something called batten up.

從虛張聲勢與誇大其辭，到戰略性的沈默，以及所謂的「嚴陣以待」。

And the ringer, economics, swish.

還有那個絕招：經濟學，空心入網。

On the court, Alicia Clark is a forward for the Dallas Wings.

在球場上，艾莉西亞·克拉克是達拉斯之翼隊的前鋒。

But over her time with the WNBA, she has been in pretty much every position.

但在她在 WNBA 的這段時間裡，她幾乎待過各種位置。

Being cut from her team twice, being a bench player, getting the minimum WNBA salary.

包括兩次被球隊裁掉、擔任板凳球員，以及領著 WNBA 的最低薪資。

Being the like middleman in terms of I'm not the superstar but I'm not a rookie.

處於中間人的位置，意思是既不是超級巨星，也不是菜鳥。

Then being a starter, winning all those championships.

接著成為先發球員，贏得所有那些總冠軍。

She says that's why she stepped up a couple years ago to help negotiate this contract.

她說這就是為什麼她在幾年前挺身而出，協助談判這份合約。

I just knew that my lived experience would be so crucial and beneficial to this negotiation.

我當時就知道，我的親身經歷對這次談判將會非常關鍵且大有幫助。

Alicia is the oldest player in the league, 38.

艾莉西亞是聯盟中最年長的球員，現年38歲。

And when she first started thinking about these contract negotiations two years ago,

當她兩年前剛開始考慮這些合約談判時，

she knew what she did not want.

她很清楚自己不想要什麼。

The kind of contract she had back when she was a rookie.

就像她當初還是菜鳥時的那種合約。

What was your salary?

妳當時的薪水是多少？

My salary? Oh, I think I wrote it down. Let me check. Hold on.

我的薪水？喔，我想我有記下來。讓我查一下，等我一下。

You're pulling out like a red diary notebook?

妳正在掏出一本紅色的日記本嗎？

Yeah, I am. I am.

是啊，沒錯。

Yes, Alicia Clark starts flipping through a real old school diary.

是的，艾莉西亞·克拉克開始翻閱一本非常老派的日記。

During the contract negotiations, she was making entries multiple times a day

在合約談判期間，她每天都會記錄好幾次，

in her careful cursive writing.

用她那細心書寫的草寫體。

This is, this was my handy-dandy notebook.

這就是，這曾是我那本超級好用的筆記本。

Do you normally keep like a diary or a...

你通常會維持寫日記或是...

No, I am like a diary like journal person just because I like to remember stuff

不，我是那種愛寫日記或日誌的人，純粹是因為我喜歡記住事情

and I have so many thoughts.

而且我有很多想法。

She finds the page she was looking for.

她找到了她正在找的那一頁。

So my first contract I think was $36,400.

所以我記得我的第一份合約大約是 36,400 美金。

That was during her first WNBA season in 2012.

那是在她 2012 年的第一個 WNBA 賽季期間。

I looked at it. I was like, okay, I'm making $36,400 for five months.

我看了看，心裡想：好吧，我五個月賺了 36,400 美金。

Like, that's decent.

像是，那還算不錯。

And I'm like, I'm not going to look at the rest of the months of the year.

然後我想著，我不要去看這一年剩下的其他月份。

We'll figure that out later.

我們之後再想辦法解決。

But for these five months, I was just like, this is what professional athletes are making.

但對於這五個月，我只是想著，這就是職業運動員的收入。

Or at least the women professional athletes.

或者至少是女子職業運動員。

Nothing they had was like what the men had.

她們擁有的任何東西都無法與男人們所擁有的相比。

Our practice court was a church gym.

我們的練習球場是一間教會的體育館。

Alicia says they flew economy,

Alicia 說她們當時搭乘經濟艙，

in middle seats if you were a rookie.

如果你是個新秀，就得坐在中間的座位。

Didn't matter how tall you were.

不管你長得多高都沒關係。

And when they traveled, most players had roommates.

而且當她們出外比賽時，大多數球員都有室友。

Adults, professional athletes, sharing a hotel room.

成年人、職業運動員，竟然還要共住一間飯店房間。

Did you say anything about it?

你當時有對這件事發表過什麼看法嗎？

Like, I know you were like, well, this is good.

像是，我知道你當時會想：嗯，這已經很好了。

But were you...

但你有沒有……

Did it occur to you?

你當時有意識到這一點嗎？

You'd be like, wait, should I get more?

你會想說：等等，我是不是應該得到更多？

Oh no, there was no thought or even opportunity to get more.

噢不，當時根本沒有想過，甚至沒有機會得到更多。

That's just what you got.

那就是你所能得到的。

At the time, the WNBA was not turning a profit,

當時，WNBA 並未獲利，

which is typical for a new league.

這對一個新聯盟來說是很常見的。

Many professional sports leagues don't make money for a while.

許多職業運動聯盟在一段時間內都不賺錢。

Alicia says when the WNBA players asked for more money,

艾莉西亞說，當 WNBA 球員要求更多薪水時，

they were always told the same thing.

他們總是被告知同樣的事。

No one comes to the games.

沒有人來看比賽。

The revenue just isn't there.

營收就是不夠。

In the beginning, the NBA owned the WNBA.

起初，NBA 擁有 WNBA。

They're still majority owners.

他們現在仍是多數股權持有者。

And in their 2002 negotiations,

而在他們 2002 年的談判中，

the NBA commissioner threatened to cancel the upcoming season.

NBA 總裁威脅要取消即將到來的賽季。

If they couldn't reach an agreement.

如果他們無法達成協議。

But over Alicia's career, women's basketball has changed a lot.

但在艾麗西亞的職業生涯中，女子籃球發生了很大的變化。

It started slow.

這一切起步得很慢。

More people going to games, more television stations showing them.

越來越多人去看比賽，也有越來越多電視台轉播。

During the height of the pandemic,

在疫情最嚴重的時期，

they were one of the only sports on television.

它們是電視上僅有的體育賽事之一。

And ever since, women's basketball has gone bonkers.

從那以後，女子籃球變得非常瘋狂。

Remember when Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA all-time scoring record?

還記得凱特琳·克拉克打破 NCAA 歷史得分紀錄的時候嗎？

Here comes Clark.

克拉克來了。

How will she go for history?

她將如何挑戰歷史紀錄？

She got so popular she was invited on Saturday Night Live.

她變得非常受歡迎，甚至獲邀參加《週六夜現場》。

Here to comment is Caitlin Clark.

這裡邀請到凱特琳·克拉克來發表評論。

When Angel Reese's first preseason game with the Chicago Sky

當安吉爾·里絲在芝加哥天空隊的首場季前賽

wasn't televised, a fan streamed the game from their phone

沒有在電視上轉播時，一名球迷用手機直播了比賽

and it got 500,000 views.

並且吸引了 50 萬次觀看。

And off the court, Angel is a regular at the Met Gala.

而在球場之外，安吉爾也是大都會藝術博物館慈善晚宴的常客。

So now, money is coming in from skyrocketing ticket prices

所以現在，飆升的票價正帶來大筆收入

and advertising revenue.

以及廣告營收。

The league is projected to get $3.1 billion

該聯盟預計將獲得 31 億美元

over the next 11 years from a new media rights deal.

來自未來 11 年的一項新媒體版權協議。

And the players have gotten better deals

而球員們也獲得了更好的待遇

as things have changed.

隨著情況的變遷。

They got rid of the roommates.

他們取消了（球員出賽須分擔）室友的制度。

Recently, they've been flying charter.

最近，她們一直搭乘包機。

They got parental leave and they got somewhat higher salaries.

她們獲得了育嬰假，薪資也稍微提高了一些。

Last year, the minimum salary, like for a rookie,

去年，像是菜鳥的最低薪資，

was around $66,000.

大約是 66,000 美元。

And for the first time, the players did get a bonus

而且球員們第一次獲得了獎金，

because the WNBA made enough money to trigger it.

因為 WNBA 賺了足夠的錢來觸發這項機制。

But going into contract negotiations this year

但進入今年的合約談判時，

with the WNBA pie growing exponentially,

隨著 WNBA 的市場版圖呈指數級增長，

Alicia was on a mission.

Alicia 肩負著使命。

Can you tell us a little bit about what was on your wish list?

妳能跟我們聊聊妳的期望清單上有哪些內容嗎？

Yeah, I mean, everything.

是的，我的意思是，所有的一切。

We were like, where do we start?

我們當時想，該從哪裡開始呢？

Literally everything needed to be thrown out and started over again.

基本上所有東西都必須丟掉並重新開始。

No, literally, that's literally what we said.

不，真的，那完全就是我們當時說過的話。

We were like, this all needs to be scrapped

我們當時覺得，這一切都需要報廢

and we need to like redo this entire CBA.

而且我們需要像是重新制定這整個 CBA。

The entire collective bargaining agreement.

整個團體協商協議。

And if you're going to ask for more of everything,

而如果你打算要求增加各項內容，

Alicia learned, you have to be able to explain why.

艾莉西亞學到，你必須能夠解釋原因。

When an organization is making a profit,

當一個組織正在獲利時，

there are no rules that say management has to take this much

並沒有規則規定管理層必須拿走多少

and labor gets this much.

而勞方得到多少。

You make it up.

這是由你們自行商定出來的。

And when you're getting ready to negotiate,

而當你準備好要進行談判時，

one thing you look for are comps in your industry.

你會尋找的其中一個指標是同產業中的參照對象。

Like, other plumbers or teachers or whatever

像是其他的水電工、老師，或諸如此類的職業。

make this much money so we should make that much.

他們賺這麼多錢，所以我們也應該賺那麼多。

But there was no comparable professional women's basketball league

但當時國內並沒有可比擬的職業女子籃球聯盟。

in the country.

在國內。

And just asking for the same is what the men make.

而只是要求與男性球員賺的一樣多。

The average men's salary is around $10 million.

男性球員的平均薪資大約是一千萬美元。

Just wasn't going to work.

就是行不通。

Because despite all the growth of the WNBA,

因為儘管 WNBA 有所成長，

it still doesn't bring in nearly the kind of money the NBA does.

它賺進來的錢還是遠不及 NBA。

The new pie is not that big.

這塊新大餅（利益總額）並沒有那麼大。

So it was going to take some complicated math

所以這需要一些複雜的運算。

to figure out a fair comparison.

找出公平的比較方式。

And that was a first big challenge for the players.

而這對球員們來說是第一個重大挑戰。

As they prepped to start bargaining with the league.

當她們準備開始與聯盟進行協商時。

Mind you, Claudia Golden is on our side.

提醒你一下，Claudia Golden 是站在我們這一邊的。

You heard that right, Planet Money Fam.

你沒聽錯，各位 Planet Money 的聽眾朋友們。

The Claudia Golden, the Nobel Prize

就是那位 Claudia Golden，諾貝爾獎得主

winning economic historian and labor economist.

得獎的經濟史學家兼勞動經濟學家。

23 prizes in the economic sciences was awarded to Claudia Golden.

2023 年諾貝爾經濟學獎頒給了 Claudia Golden。

The prize motivation reads for having advanced

授獎理由提到，因其推進了

our understanding of women's labor market outcomes.

我們對於女性勞動力市場表現的理解。

When the WNBA players ask Claudia

當 WNBA 的球員們請求 Claudia

after she won the Nobel to help them negotiate their pay,

在她獲得諾貝爾獎後，協助她們協商薪酬，

she said, okay, but for no pay.

她說「好」，但不支薪。

So she was one of the people advising the player side.

所以她是負責向球員方提供建議的人之一。

Did you get to meet her?

你有機會見到她嗎？

Via Zoom.

透過 Zoom。

Via Zoom.

透過 Zoom。

What was that like?

那是什麼樣的感覺？

Can you describe it?

你能描述一下嗎？

What did she tell you?

她跟你說了什麼？

I mean, just basically like what you guys are fighting for

我的意思是，基本上你們所爭取的內容

is more than fair.

是再公平不過了。

And she was like, honestly,

她當時說，說真的，

it's embarrassing what they're paying you guys.

他們付給你們的薪水少得令人汗顏。

So just to know like to have confidence

所以只是為了了解，像是為了要有信心

that what you're fighting for is more than fair.

相信你所爭取的遠不只是公平而已。

And they have it.

而他們確實擁有這份信心。

We exchanged emails with Claudia.

我們與 Claudia 交換了電子郵件。

She didn't want to come on because she wanted the focus

她不想參加節目，因為她希望將焦點

to be on the players.

集中在球員身上。

And she said the math she was doing for them was not

她說她為他們算的帳其實並非

actually complicated.

真的那麼複雜。

It was simple.

其實很簡單。

It's all laid out in an op-ed.

這一切都詳述於一篇評論文章中。

She wrote last year for The New York Times.

那是她去年為《紐約時報》撰寫的。

Claudia wanted to find what a reasonable gap between the NBA

Claudia 想要找出在 NBA 之間一個合理的差距

and WNBA salaries would be by comparing their revenue.

以及 WNBA 的薪水應該是透過比較她們的營收來衡量。

So she looked at what the W and the NBA

所以她研究了 WNBA 與 NBA

each bring in from advertising, streaming, and game attendance.

各自從廣告、串流媒體和比賽觀賽人數中獲得的收入。

She accounted for the fact that the NBA season has more games.

她考慮到了 NBA 賽季比賽場次更多的事實。

The games themselves are longer

比賽本身的時長也更長

and there are fewer WNBA teams.

而且 WNBA 的球隊數量也較少。

Then she crunched all those numbers

接著她對所有這些數據進行了運算

and estimated that the average WNBA salary

並估計 WNBA 的平均薪資

should be about a quarter to a third of the average NBA salary.

應該大約是 NBA 平均薪資的四分之一到三分之一。

In reality, Claudia calculated

但在現實中，克勞迪婭計算出

it was more like one-eightieth.

它實際上更接近於八十分之一。

And part of the reason that gap existed

而這個差距存在的部分原因

is because of the WNBA's previous collective bargaining agreement.

這是因為 WNBA 先前的勞資集體談判協定。

The player salaries were not tied to revenue.

球員的薪水並未與營收掛鉤。

They grew at a fixed rate

它們以固定的速率增長

that did not account for the incredible growth of the league.

並未考量到聯盟驚人的成長速度。

So that is the part of money

所以這就是關於金錢的部分

that Alicia and her negotiating team decided to zero in on revenue.

艾莉西亞和她的談判團隊決定針對營收這點著手。

They wanted what's called revenue share,

他們想要所謂的營收分潤，

which Alicia says she didn't really understand

艾莉西亞說她以前並不是很理解

in her rookie years.

在她的菜鳥時期。

Like you know what revenue is

就像你知道營收是什麼

and you know like obviously revenue shares like,

而你也知道營收分潤顯然就像是，

okay, you're sharing in the money that you're that's coming in.

好吧，就是分享那些正在流入的金錢。

But like what does that actually look like

但具體來說那實際上呈現出來是什麼樣子呢？

in the terms that they have?

就他們現有的條款而言？

The players did have an opportunity

球員們確實曾有過一個機會

for some rev share from an earlier contract.

從早期的合約中獲得一些收入分成。

That's how they got those bonuses last year.

這就是他們去年獲得那些獎金的方式。

But the way the agreement worked,

但根據協議運作的方式，

their salaries and their share of the revenue

他們的薪水以及他們在收入中的佔比

didn't grow at the same pace as the WNBA's overall revenue.

並沒有與 WNBA 的總體收入保持同步增長。

If the business grew our share stayed the same.

如果業務增長了，我們的份額依然維持不變。

So they sent their first proposal

所以他們提交了第一份提議

to the league in February of 2025.

在 2025 年 2 月向聯盟提出。

And what they asked for was 40% of revenue

而他們要求的是總收入的 40%

to split between players.

由球員們均分。

You know now they were willing to settle for less.

你現在知道他們當時願意接受較少的條件了。

But negotiators usually start out

但談判代表通常會從...

with something called an anchor number

以一個所謂的「錨定數字」開始

to influence the direction of negotiations.

來影響談判的方向。

By the way, NBA players get about 50% of rev share

順帶一提，NBA 球員獲得約 50% 的營收分紅

using a different system.

使用不同的制度。

In response to the WNBA players proposals,

針對 WNBA 球員的提案，

the league did eventually offer some big jumps in salaries.

聯盟最終確實大幅調升了薪資。

At one point they said they'd increased the max salary

他們一度表示已經提高了最高薪資

from about 250k to more than a million.

從大約 25 萬增加到超過 100 萬。

But they were still insisting on a fixed rate system.

但他們仍然堅持採用固定比率制度。

They were not budging on the players rev share ask.

So they're going back and forth and Alicia

and the other negotiators are following along.

With help from you could say the Claudia Golden team, the math team.

I'm a visual person.

So I needed to see like you can tell me something

but I'm like, let me just see it.

And so they created like pie charts for us.

Like, hey, I love pie charts.

You know, it's amazing.

And so it's like, hey, here is what happened, right?

Like, here's the revenue.

Here's their estimated what they're saying.

What they're offering you is this piece.

Okay, but they told the players now watch the pie

as the years go by.

Look at the revenue the league is projecting.

Here's what they're projecting the league to make

over the next five years.

And here's what happens to your share

that they're offering you over those five years.

And when you see it, you're like, what?

Why is that getting smaller?

Why isn't it getting bigger with the increased revenue?

And it's like exactly.

So in our revenue model,

here's what it would look like.

That was really eye opening.

Because they're like, oh, there's million dollar contracts.

There's this.

There's average salary of this.

And the players just see the numbers.

And where everyone's just like,

but look at the salaries.

And it's like, look at this pie chart.

Look at this chart.

Look at how this, look at the graph.

As the negotiations move forward,

Alicia and the other players on the committee

had to pay the closest attention to every detail.

This was a game they were only just learning to play.

And with any game, there are lots of techniques.

We've actually been looking at a list of

quote hard bargaining techniques

on a Harvard Law School post about negotiation tactics.

Things negotiators might use in a situation like this.

Now, a source with the league told us,

quote, we did not rely on negotiating tactics

or anything of that nature.

But we think that some of the experiences

Alicia told us about sound a little like

some of the tactics on the list.

They said they would lose hundreds of millions of dollars

if they did it our way.

That was their whole spiel.

I mean, they said it in the media all the time.

We would lose hundreds of millions of dollars

if we did it the way the players want to do it.

To us, that sounded a little like a technique

the Harvard Law School calls bluffing and puffing.

Their post says these kinds of exaggerated claims

and misrepresentations can throw negotiations off track.

And Alicia said it really helped

to have their own math in their pocket,

especially when they thought the league

was seriously lowballing them.

What they offered in the beginning was embarrassing.

I was like, this is actually embarrassing

and the fact that you put it in writing

is even more embarrassing.

Because I'm like, we have this amazing staff of advisors

that are giving us facts, not like feelings

and we're all in our feelings about stuff, etc.

But let me show you what is actually here.

That's where the confidence was gained.

Another negotiating strategy

it seemed like the players might have encountered.

This one is on some other lists of labor

negotiating tactics.

It's what you might call a strategic pause.

Like a pause in conversation

or in this case, a pause in the whole negotiation.

Yeah, Alicia says in December,

10 months into the negotiation

after the players sent a new proposal,

the league went silent,

waited more than six weeks to respond.

Our source on the lead side says

this was not a negotiating tactic

and that the union's prior proposal

did not warrant a response.

Regardless, after what seems like a dramatic pause,

the league invited the players

to come to their headquarters in New York.

This was now February.

And so we were like, okay, they're calling it.

Meeting like, surely they're going to come with something.

Right.

And they showed up with nothing.

Why call a meeting then?

That's what we were trying to figure out.

Like you had people dropping everything to come

to New York to be here for this

and you guys don't even show up with a proposal.

Next, the league made a move that to us

sounds kind of like what the Harvard Law School list

calls threats and warnings.

After the six weeks of silence

and the big nothing of a trip to New York,

Alicia says the league gave the players

a suddenly urgent deadline.

If you don't sign a contract by March 10th,

the season will be in jeopardy.

They wasted six weeks

and then all of a sudden created this false timeline

that we all of a sudden all had to be,

had to jump on and it was like,

okay, well, where was the sense of urgency

when you wasted these six weeks?

For the record, our person on the lead side

says it was not a threat or warning.

Either way, by now they were way behind schedule

and the start of the season was looming.

So in March, both sides agreed

to get together in person in New York again.

Alicia packed the bag thinking it's just for a few days.

You know, I was like,

what can we get in this carry on?

And in that carry on was her trusty diary.

This meeting seemed for real

because they had blocked off the entire third floor

of the Langham hotel on Fifth Avenue in New York.

There was a conference room

with a big rectangular table.

And Alicia said the first meeting

between the players and the league was very passionate.