WNBA Dream Owners Using Brand As Selling Point

WNBA Dream co-Owners Kelly Loeffler and Mary Brock said that they “are mindful of the team's mission to empower girls to play sports and provide positive role models for them to emulate,” but note that is “not their main selling point for the team,” according to Michael Cunningham of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. Brock said, “I think Kelly and I feel strongly about developing the brand, and the brand is good basketball." The team appeared in the WNBA finals the past two seasons and reported attendance this season at Philips Arena “decreased by more than 25 percent from Dream's inaugural season” in ‘08. Year-over-year, there was a slight increase in average attendance this season from 6,293 to 6,487, which ranked 10th in the 12-team league. The Dream “would need to average about 8,500 spectators per home game to turn a profit.” The team “lost $3 million in 2009 and presumably less with the deeper playoff runs last year and this year.” Still, the Dream owners said that they “are committed to the team for the long haul.” Brock: “This is only our fourth year. We think in four more years we will be in an unbelievable position” (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 10/11).

MAINTAINING MOMENTUM: In Minneapolis, Rachel Blount writes the WNBA Champion Lynx “won over Minnesotans with a summer of exquisite basketball,” but it remains to be seen “whether their popularity has staying power, or whether this will become just a fleeting moment in time.” Though the Lynx' profile “rose substantially this season, the team -- and the WNBA as a whole -- have been making steady gains for five years.” If the league is to “sustain its growth, it must continue to open eyes and minds to the expanding quality of the women's game.” The Lynx, who “already have sold more than 600 new season tickets and renewed 90 percent of existing ones, give hope that it can” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 10/11).