WNBA will be a profitable league by 2007
It’s that time of year again when the college basketball season has ended, and the WNBA season is about to begin. The college players entering the WNBA make it an exciting league, and more equal all the time. Sure, the LA Sparks are still pretty dominant in the west, but after their loss last year in the championship to Detroit, it?s no longer a given that they will win it all.
I saw an article this morning where Val Ackerman, president of the league, announced that the WNBA will be a profitable league by 2007. She said a few teams have been profitable from the beginning, but this pronouncement is surprising since three teams folded last year. She also said there are plans to add a 14th team to the league within the next year or two but did not announce the city.
The league is now entering what some journalists are calling “the Taurasi era” in reference to Diana Taurasi, Connecticut?s wonder girl who was the first draft pick this year, picked up by the Phoenix Mercury. It will be interesting to see how she does, and what effect she will have on one of the league’s least successful teams in number of wins. She will probably experience more than triple the number of losses in her first year with Phoenix than she did in four years at Connecticut. But she?s really an awesome player and will be a lot of fun to watch.
The fourth pick in the draft, Lindsey Whalen, was picked by the Connecticut Sun. Whalen was the most prolific scorer in Minnesota history, and the darling of the NCAA tournament, particularly after Minnesota surprisingly knocked off Duke in the semi-finals. My favorite memory of Whalen is from that game against Duke when driving to the basket, she did a beautiful spin move and left Alana Beard in the dust and made the bucket. People don’t leave Alana Beard behind very often. She’s usually the one leaving everyone else behind. Speaking of Beard, she was the 2nd pick, drafted by the Washington Mystics, where former OU player Stacy Dales-Schuman plays. She will add a really strong presence to a team that desperately needs help.
One interesting twist to this year’s season is the Olympics, and the WNBA is taking a break from August 2nd to August 31st, while some of their biggest stars play for the USA. The other options were to shorten their season, or continue playing without players like Sheryl Swoopes, Diana Taurasi, Tina Thompson and Lisa Leslie. Yawn.
Television coverage has expanded this year with more networks broadcasting games. ABC, ESPN2, Oxygen, and Telemundo will show more than 60 games this season. Check www.wnba.com for the complete schedule.
The WNBA is getting more talented players all the time, and fewer teams will continue their dominance. That?s good for the league, and the players, and should make for some close games and rivalries this year.