Thursday, January 2, 2014

More on the Sparks ownership situation

ABC News quotes a source that says the Sparks didn't pay certain fees to the league:

According to a source with the team, the Sparks have not paid certain fees to the league and it is unclear if players, coaches and employees are still being paid.

It sounds like WNBA officials were truly surprised by the events.

Most seem to feel that if the WNBA loses its LA and New York teams, the league will fold. Do you agree?

3 comments:

WNBAGuru said...

The NBA and WNBA would be absolutely crazy to stand by and let a team like Sparks fold. Owners would be interested but I'm more concerned about the "fee" situation.

Abacus Reveals said...

Perhaps I'm missing the big picture, but are not the more stable/successful WNBA franchises located in smaller markets (Minnie, Indy, San Antone, Seattle)?
(Though in tracking attendance last season, I couldn't help but notice that the "city slickers" seemed to be among the best road draws.)

Sue, to what extent do you suspect that this situation may have been triggered by intramural squabbling among Sparks' ownership factions?

Quick historical reference (for what it's worth):
Following the NBA's 17th season, a team in a major market (Chicago) was re-located to Baltimore, which (in the most "geography-be-damned" decision in sports history) was a member of the Western Division until the league expanded several seasons later.

A-L said...

You mean to tell me WNBA officials don't have a clue about how these teams are doing financially? Just beacause there were some positive numbers this past season overall doesn't mean every team had such positives.