Sally Phillips made her name as a "determined point guard," and now the Women's National Basketball League "hopes Phillips can use her lifetime of WNBL experience to rebuild the league's diminished public image and draw in new support for the world's second-best league," according to Roy Ward of THE AGE. Basketball Australia announced on Tuesday "it had appointed Phillips as head of WNBL and Riley Johnson as operations manager." Since the ABC dropped the league from its weekly TV slot before last season, the WNBL has "fallen from public view" while the newly formed women's Australian Football League, W-League and Australian netball league attract more coverage and sponsorship. Phillips' role is "not to be the league's saviour or its overlord, her role will be focused on working with the league's eight clubs to better promote the competition and improve its sponsorship and spectator numbers." Phillips said, "We have to build those positive and great relationships with our clubs who are our key stakeholders and we have a lot of work to do in the media landscape as well." The WNBL still does not have a TV partner and "appears unlikely to have one" for the '16-17 season, instead the league will "again look to live streaming options and work to rebuild its business and clubs' supporter base" (THE AGE, 8/2).
