Since April, MN's WNBA expansion team has received
"only" 2,553 deposits, nearly 50% less than the 5,000
deposits the league requires by September 1, according to
Sheila Eldred of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. WNBA
President Val Ackerman "will try to boost" ticket sales when
she visits the Twin Cities today with former UConn star
Nykesha Sales and former Stanford star Kristin Folkl.
Eldred: "But if Ackerman, Sales, Folkl and $125,000 worth of
ads fail to motivate enough ticket buyers, will the WNBA
determine that Minnesota has failed and reassign the team to
a different location?" Ackerman: "I'm not even going to
speculate about a scenario where they wouldn't reach it."
T-wolves CFO Roger Griffith said that MN's WNBA team "will
be in jeopardy" if the deadline isn't met. But Eldred
reports that "no one" in MN or at the WNBA headquarters "is
making alternative plans." Because ticket sales are so low,
Griffith said that the T-Wolves decided to spend the bulk of
the year's ad money before September 1. Local TV ads are
already running, and print ads will hit newspapers,
magazines and bus billboards next week (STAR TRIBUNE, 7/28).
