WNBA IN DC AND DETROIT: THE SORCERESSES AND ....

          The WNBA plans to announce next Wednesday that
     Washington and Detroit have been chosen as expansion cities,
     according to Amy Shipley of the WASHINGTON POST.  However,
     both markets "must get 3,000 season ticket commitments,
     negotiate" local TV and radio deals and allocate $250,000 to
     promotional activities by November 3 "to have a chance to
     join the current eight-team league by next summer."  League
     sources said that WNBA President Val Ackerman is leaning
     toward assigning former ABL player Nikki McCray to
     Washington if it wins a franchise.  A league source told
     Shipley that Orlando, "long believed" to be an expansion
     choice, "was never a leading candidate" (WASHINGTON POST,
     9/26).  In Detroit, Howes & McCosky report that GM, the
     WNBA's official automotive sponsor, will be a "key sponsor"
     of the Detroit franchise and "helped cement the WNBA's
     decision to award a team to Detroit" (DETROIT NEWS, 9/26).