WNBA President Val Ackerman, when asked during last
night's Sting-Liberty playoff game about the future of the
Sting and other WNBA franchises with low attendance: "We do
plan to look at every city after the season ends and take
stock of where we are. We feel that the crowd support
really in every city has been good. We want to make sure
that the league is very strong. And after the season ends,
we're going to kind of look at everybody and make some
decisions" ("WNBA on Lifetime," 8/30). See (#32) for more.
MORE NOTES: In Cincinnati, John Erardi writes that the
Reds "have a shot" at drawing two million fans for the
season for the "first time" since '93, but the team, which
has averaged 24,355 fans per game, "would have to average
more than" 26,000 for the final 13 games to reach the mark.
Noting the Reds' season-ticket base has dropped off to less
than 16,000 from more than 19,000 in '93, Erardi adds the
team's "gate woes this year probably lie more with the
people who didn't buy season tickets going into this year
than they do with the game-by-game crowds not turning out"
(CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 8/31)....In Chicago, George Lazarus
writes that the Bears will introduce at a kickoff luncheon
today a new ad campaign with the theme "Bears Football. 110
percent Chicago" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/31)....Maple Leaf
Sports & Entertainment President Richard Peddie recently
surveyed "hundreds of Toronto sports fans" and found that
"more than" 50% of them considered the Maple Leafs "their
favourite team in town." Next on the list was the Blue
Jays, "followed closely by" the Raptors. A total of 2% said
that they considered the Argonauts "their favourite team,"
while 1% mentioned the NLL Rock (GLOBE & MAIL, 8/31).
