WNBA on the rise

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by dsvitak

Ten seconds of research shows an average ticket price in the WNBA of $47.15.

This gives a QUICK $85 MILLION dollars in revenue, JUST for the tickets.

This is $530k per player, and doesn't include parking, merchandising, media, or concessions.

Given the average salary of just over $200k, you can't convince me that the WNBA isn't IMMENSELY profitable.

And yet, wherever you go, you see statements like these:

"Since its inception, the WNBA hast lost money every season and is partially financed by the NBA."

"The WNBA has never made a profit and is estimated to lose $50 million this year alone. The NBA subsidizes and covers for those losses. Not sure what kind of leverage the players think they have here."

Which is confusing. For one thing, the league has been operating continuously for almost 30 years. How can it have survived for so long without making any money? Is the NBA that beneficent, and if so, why?

Whatever the situation, the WNBPA has to acquire muscle and be willing to use it. The owners are never going to acquiesce in opening their books. The players should say, "Fine. Then open your wallets instead."

It all depends. Do they think they can do it? Are they willing to shake things up while hoping it doesn't fall down around their ears?

[pilight]

Now, now, it's actually a crypto meme coin group marketing strategy. They're trying to lure morons into giving them real money in exchange for worthless fake money.

I was at the game in Atlanta when the first incident occurred. It happened too fast for me to be able to see what it was.

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by pilight

Now, now, it's actually a crypto meme coin group marketing strategy. They're trying to lure morons into giving them real money in exchange for worthless fake money.

I was at the game in Atlanta when the first incident occurred. It happened too fast for me to be able to see what it was.

I don't even know what a "crypto meme coin" is. Every time the word "crypto" is mentioned on the news, my wife asks, "What is 'crypto'?" I always reply, "I dunno. Some kind of ****ing internet money, maybe? I don't know and I don't care."

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

There is no doubt that social media has contributed to the decline of our society. For, when one moron has a stupid idea, it gets broadcasted to other morons. These others, who are also looking for significance rather than facing the grim fact that they are insignificant just like 99% of us, take it upon themselves to do or say the same thing as the first moron.

There have always been outright morons in our society. Social media now activates, intensifies, and normalizes their stupidity. Moreover, people who are only marginally or potentially stupid are led down the wrong path.

I will leave unsaid exactly what occurrences that I am referring to as I do not want to devote any more forum space or the time and effort to discuss the nonsense any further.

I should print this out and frame it. An actual intelligent comment, posted on an internet forum.

[Déjà Bru]

Another sign that the league is coming of age.

First-half fracas results in 3 ejections as Sun top Sky

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

There is no doubt that social media has contributed to the decline of our society. For, when one moron has a stupid idea, it gets broadcasted to other morons. These others, who are also looking for significance rather than facing the grim fact that they are insignificant just like 99% of us, take it upon themselves to do or say the same thing as the first moron.

There have always been outright morons in our society. Social media now activates, intensifies, and normalizes their stupidity. Moreover, people who are only marginally or potentially stupid are led down the wrong path.

I will leave unsaid exactly what occurrences that I am referring to as I do not want to devote any more forum space or the time and effort to discuss the nonsense any further.

Spot. On.

[Déjà Bru]

I learned something interesting today. First, though, let's start with this:

Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Maya Moore enter Hall of Fame

Anthony was part of a quintet of players that was inducted into the Hall on Saturday as individuals, joining Dwight Howard, Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles.

Regarding the former WNBA players,

The enshrinements of Bird, Moore and Fowles marked the first time three WNBA players entered the Hall of Fame in the same year.

Bird said being on the stage Saturday made her appreciate her journey from Syosset, New York, predicting in her high school yearbook that she would become a professional soccer or basketball player.

"There was no logical place for a kid like me," she said.

Saturday also showcased the interconnectivity of that trio of women. Bird and Moore won two NCAA titles each at Connecticut. Fowles was also instrumental in the final two of Moore's four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx. All three played together and won gold medals for the U.S. on the Olympic team.

So then I was thinking, "The WNBA shares the Basketball Hall of Fame with the NBA. I wonder if they will ever have their own hall of fame." It turns out that they do, to some extent. I learned that there is indeed a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (website).

The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (Wikipedia) honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's basketball.

Bird, Moore and Fowles were already members of this hall of fame. Moore was Class of 2024; Bird and Fowles, Class of 2025.

[pilight]

I've been to the WBBHOF. It's a very cool place if you're interested in women's basketball.

[Déjà Bru]

Quite a success story, here.

Inside the Most Valuable Team in Women’s Sports

Expectations were low for the Golden State Valkyries, the W.N.B.A.’s first expansion team in 17 years, but they captivated Bay Area sports fans and surprised the league by securing a playoff spot in their first season.

On the last night of August, the Valkyries were about to take the court against the Indiana Fever. A few wins later, they would become the league’s only expansion team to make the playoffs in its first season and will enter the W.N.B.A. playoffs on Sunday as the eighth seed against the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx.

The Valkyries had already set records. They were the first W.N.B.A. team to sell out every home game. They set a league expansion team record with 23 wins. Perhaps most strikingly, the Valkyries became the first professional women’s team in any sport to be valued at $500 million, according to an analysis by Sportico.

That last sentence is especially amazing.

[Déjà Bru]

After a glorious inaugural campaign, the Valkyries have returned to Valhalla.



Celebrate their accomplishments with this retrospective:

History in Real Time: Valkyries Inaugural Season Milestones

It begins with the selection of head coach Natalie Nakase as the 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year and moves back in time to the beginning.

[Déjà Bru]

As the WNBA grows, it will inevitably take on the worst aspects of its big brother league, the NBA, as well as the finer ones. So now we have the news of the head coach of the New York Liberty being fired just one year after winning the championship. From The Athletic:

Liberty part ways with coach Sandy Brondello one season after winning WNBA championship

By Ben Pickman



Just one season after winning a WNBA championship, the New York Liberty are letting go of head coach Sandy Brondello.

The franchise announced on Tuesday that it will not renew Brondello’s contract.

Brondello learned that she would not be the Liberty’s coach on Tuesday morning, league sources not authorized to discuss the decision publicly told The Athletic, on the same day of New York’s exit meetings.

Brondello, who had been with the Liberty since 2022, leaves as New York’s winningest coach and the lone coach to lead the franchise to a WNBA championship. New York went to consecutive WNBA Finals in 2023 and 2024, winning last year’s championship in a thrilling five-game series over the Minnesota Lynx.

After winning the championship, Brondello agreed to a one-year contract extension with New York, which included a team option for 2026, per league sources.

The Liberty were eliminated from the 2025 WNBA playoffs in the first round on Sept. 19, falling to the Phoenix Mercury in three games.

“We would like to thank Sandy Brondello for her everlasting impact on the New York Liberty,” Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said in a statement. “Sandy finishes her tenure in New York as the winningest coach in franchise history, and she took us to never-before-seen heights as the first head coach to lead the Liberty to a championship. We wish Sandy the very best in her next chapter.”

Injuries changed the course of New York’s quest to defend its title. After a 9-0 start, the Liberty went just 18-17, using 18 different starting lineups and receiving limited action from Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart, who each missed 13 regular-season games. New York’s vaunted frontcourt became a merry-go-round of lineup combinations.

“There’s no excuses about what kind of effort we put into it,” Brondello said in early September. “And it felt like that was some of our downfall this year. Regardless of who’s on the court, not playing hard enough to get some more wins.”

After New York’s 79-73 playoff loss to Phoenix, Stewart voiced her support of Brondello when a reporter asked about her future.

“This is a resilient group,” Stewart said. “She has our back and we have hers. … The way that she continued to deal with the cards she was dealt was incredible. It wasn’t easy for anybody. But she came in every day with a positive attitude and a mindset to put us in our best position possible and best foot forward.”

Brondello was largely beloved by the franchise’s players and support staff. After winning 16 games in her first season, New York won 32 games in 2023 and 2024 and 27 this year. She joined the Liberty after eight seasons as the Mercury’s coach, winning WNBA championships in 2014 and 2021. She was also the San Antonio Stars head coach in 2010.

New York is the second franchise to announce a coaching change this offseason, as the Seattle Storm announced they were not renewing Noelle Quinn’s contract. The Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo are also in the market for head coaches as they plan for their inaugural seasons as expansion franchises.

If I had to guess, I would say the long-range result of this stupidity is going to be a diminution of coaching talent at the big league level. Sure, coaches must know what they are getting into by now but my question would be, why bother? Why take a position with next-to-nothing job security and an extreme "What have you done for us lately" prospect?

If you are going to be fired for not winning a championship (despite winning one the season before), you have potentially a 92% chance of having it happen to you (12 of 13 franchises "fail" in the current WNBA). Me, I think I would prefer coaching in the college levels (although that's getting bad, too) or doing something else for a living.

[Cobra Mgr]

You know what I haven't heard a lot of? How the Indiana Fever made the playoffs w/o Caitlin Clark playing virtually the entire season.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

As the WNBA grows, it will inevitably take on the worst aspects of its big brother league, the NBA, as well as the finer ones. So now we have the news of the head coach of the New York Liberty being fired just one year after winning the championship. From The Athletic:



If I had to guess, I would say the long-range result of this stupidity is going to be a diminution of coaching talent at the big league level. Sure, coaches must know what they are getting into by now but my question would be, why bother? Why take a position with next-to-nothing job security and an extreme "What have you done for us lately" prospect?

If you are going to be fired for not winning a championship (despite winning one the season before), you have potentially a 92% chance of having it happen to you (12 of 13 franchises "fail" in the current WNBA). Me, I think I would prefer coaching in the college levels (although that's getting bad, too) or doing something else for a living.

Liberty front office are the same clowns that run the Nix, correct?

[pilight]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

You know what I haven't heard a lot of? How the Indiana Fever made the playoffs w/o Caitlin Clark playing virtually the entire season.

I hope the Fever win it all so we can have a whole year (or more!) of "the team is better without Caitlin Clark" discourse.

[pilight]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Liberty front office are the same clowns that run the Nix, correct?

No, Nets

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by pilight

No, Nets

Ahhhh........................

......still not clmbing many rungs on the ladder, are we?

[Cobra Mgr]

This doesn't surprise me. I think NBA officiating is the worst of the major team sports. So by nature, the "sub"-leagues & levels are going to be even more incompetent. can't blame a coach for going off when your best player & focus of your team is whistled, doesn't get to the line and gets a separated shoulder and fractured leg.

[pilight]

Sour grapes. The Thomas steal was obviously not a foul.

[pilight]

Napheesa Collier ripped the W's leadership in a scathing exit interview

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...5007/?tbref=hp

So far, the commish has responded with attorney written corporate no-speak, as is typical.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by pilight

Napheesa Collier ripped the W's leadership in a scathing exit interview

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...5007/?tbref=hp

So far, the commish has responded with attorney written corporate no-speak, as is typical.

I like it. When it comes to reforms, it takes standing up from the ones profiting the most from the system and saying things aren't right to force change.