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Fever Averaged 8,265 Fans At Conseco
Fieldhouse During Regular Season |
In Indianapolis, David Woods notes the Fever "continue to reap benefits from their 2009 run" to the Finals. Revenue, sponsorship and attendance "are up" this season. The Fever averaged 8,265 fans at Conseco Fieldhouse during the regular season, the “largest since 2005 and an increase for the fourth consecutive year.” Revenue increased 20% from last season, though Fever COO & GM Kelly Krauskopf noted that the franchise is the league’s “only team in the top five of corporate dollars without a jersey sponsor.” She credited the team’s major sponsors -- Kroger, Community Health Network and Old National Bank -- with “validating the franchise.” Woods noted there was “speculation about the Fever’s survival” last year, but team Owner Herb Simon “reiterated his commitment to the franchise.” Simon: “We want to do everything we can to keep it. And we’re now confident that it can be here for many years” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 8/25).
STORM'S A BREWING: In Seattle, Jayda Evans noted the Storm enter the playoffs as the "favorite to win" their second league championship, and the team's owners -- Anne Levinson, Ginny Gilder, Dawn Trudeau and Lisa Brummel -- “comprise one of only six independent ownership groups in the 12-team” WNBA. The team also is one of only three clubs “operated entirely by women.” Levinson: “When we started, it wasn’t that we had to be the owners. It was that we wanted to do whatever we could to help keep the Storm in Seattle.” Trudeau said, "You know what I dream for? I want that article on the cover of The Seattle Times to be about the women who brought basketball to the Seattle area. The women who’ve helped the kids come up through the ranks and become professionals. I don’t really ever want to be quite structured like the way the NBA is. I think there’s something that’s fundamentally flawed there, but I do want our athletes to be paid enough that they don’t have to play 12 months a year” (SEATTLE TIMES, 8/25).
SHOCK WAVES: In Tulsa, Lynn Jacobsen noted the Shock averaged 4,829 fans through 17 homes games during their inaugural season at BOK Center. Team officials before the start of the season indicated that “they needed to average 6,000.” But Shock Owner Bill Cameron on Saturday said, “Absolutely we’ll be back. I can’t wait to get started on next year. For the first time, we’ll have the whole offseason to get ready. This year, from the time we were notified we had a team to the start of the season, we just didn’t have much time to prepare” (TULSA WORLD, 8/23).
SPONSOR SEARCH: Mystics Managing Partner Sheila Johnson said that despite actively pursuing potential jersey sponsorships, a deal "has not come through yet." Johnson: "I must have gone on about eight sponsorship calls ... trying to really build our case for the need of a jersey sponsor. If we can get that we are solvent." She added, "I can't say why the deals haven't worked out, but every time I think we're right at that touchdown line (on an agreement) it just falls short" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 8/24).
