For many years, women’s professional basketball struggled for consistency in the United States. Since 1978, when the Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL) was formed, leagues have had difficulty surviving beyond a few seasons. The WBL lasted for only three seasons, and it was ten years before a second professional league, the Liberty Basketball Association (LBA), was launched. The LBA folded after only one exhibition game. A year later, another league was created: the Women’s World Basketball Association. Although this league was more successful than the LBA, it too folded shortly into its first season. Finally, 1996 saw the launch of the American Basketball League, and the Women’s National Basketball Association launched a year later. The ABL lasted for two and a half seasons (Jenkins, 2009). The WNBA entered its 19th season in 2015. The WNBA began as a single-entity league in 1996, with its first season starting in June 1997. It was formed by the NBA Board of Governors and owned by the league. Since its founding, the number of franchises and the franchise locations have fluctuated. The league’s first 16 players were dispersed to the inaugural eight teams, and the rest of the players were selected by the teams via a draft (“History of the WNBA,” 2015). The Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) was formed soon thereafter and negotiated its first collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the WNBA in 1999. This was the first CBA in women’s professional sports. Under this CBA, rookie minimum salary increased by 75%, and veteran minimum salary doubled. Year-round health coverage and a retirement plan were provided. Contracts became guaranteed, and players earned a collective share of league licensing income The WNBA introduced a draft lottery in 2001, and in 2003 the league and the WNBPA signed a new CBA. This CBA created the first free agency system in women’s sports (“About the WNBPA”). The most significant change during this time frame, however, was the NBA Board of Governors’ vote to allow individual team ownership, moving the league from a single-entity model to a distributed club ownership model. Further, teams could be owned by non-NBA owners and could be located in non-NBA markets. On January 28, 2003, the Mohegan Tribe, located in Connecticut, became the first non-NBA owner in league history when it was awarded the Orlando Miracle franchise (“WNBA’s Greatest Moments,” 2015). In 2005, the Chicago Sky became the second WNBA franchise to be owned and run by a non-NBA entity (the team’s first season was 2006), and the Washington Mystics were transferred from Wizards owner Abe Pollin to Lincoln Holdings, LLC (“WNBA’s Greatest Moments”). Sheila Johnson then became the first female owner in the league. The Los Angeles Sparks became independently owned in 2006, as did the Houston Comets in 2007, although the Comets folded prior to the 2009 season. The sixth independently owned team was the expansion team Atlanta Dream, which began play in 2008 (“WNBA Expands,” 2007). The Tulsa Shock became independently owned, as well, when they relocated from Detroit. The league also began to move toward profitability. Its first television agreement under which it would receive a rights fee was an eight-year agreement (2009–2016) signed with ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. Teams including the Phoenix Mercury and Los Angeles Sparks sold sponsorship rights to their uniforms, with LifeLock appearing on Phoenix’s uniform and Farmers Insurance on the Sparks’ uniform. In 2008, as the league continued to move away from its single-entity status and closer to profitability, the third CBA was signed. This six-year agreement set the WNBA salary cap at \($803,000\) per team in 2009 and increased it to \($900,000\) by 2013. For players with three-plus years of WNBA experience, the minimum salary was \($51,000.\) The maximum salary for a player with six or more years was \($99,500.\) Rookies received a minimum of \($35,190\) (Women’s National, 2008). After the 2009 season, the Sacramento Monarchs folded, and the league has played with 12 teams since then. Seven of the 12 are owned by entities outside the NBA. The fourth CBA was signed in 2014 and continues through 2021. This CBA added a 12th roster spot to each team. Maximum salary was set at \($107,000\) in 2014 and increases during the term of the CBA. The minimum salary was set at \($37,950,\) with veterans with over three years’ experience receiving a minimum of \($50,000.\) A soft salary cap of \($750,000\) per team was set. Teams can exceed the cap by 4%. The league’s viability is still a subject of concern. The Sparks lost money each year after the team was purchased from the league in 2006. The team was scheduled to lose more than \($1\) million in 2014, when it was put up for sale. Magic Johnson purchased the team after it had been on the market for two months (D’Hippolito, 2014?). After the 2014 season, the WNBA expected six teams to be profitable.
case questions:
1. Why was the WNBA structured as a single-entity league when it was founded? What advantages and disadvantages did the structure provide to the league?
2. What impact did the first CBA have on the WNBA, and how did each of the CBAs affect the league’s profitability?
3. What factors have caused the WNBA to move away from the single-entity structure? For new leagues, why is the single-entity structure appealing? At some point, do start-up leagues have to move away from this structure? Why or why not?