WNBA: Team on Warriors’ radar once arena complete.
For nearly 20 years, the Bay Area — the sixth-biggest television market in the country — has lacked a women’s professional basketball team. For the past eight, with the demise of the Sacramento Monarchs, all of Northern California has been without one.
With the Warriors’ new arena on the horizon, that is expected to change. Once Chase Arena is completed and the Warriors are all moved in, the WNBA is next on the organization’s checklist.
“It’s definitely something on our radar, but timing is a consideration for us,” Warriors president Rick Welts said. “We’ve talked to the league several times about what it would look like, but in reality, we have a lot on our plate right now with the new arena.
“Despite our enthusiasm for women’s basketball, the time isn’t right with everything else going on, but we have great interest. I think there is a real opportunity here.”
San Francisco has not had a women’s pro team since the
Pioneers of the Women’s Basketball League played at the Civic Auditorium from 1979 to 1981. One of biggest stars of the Women’s Basketball League played for the Pioneers. “Machine Gun” Molly Bolin holds the record for most points in a game (55) by a female basketball player and was nicknamed for her ability to put up points.
Next up were the San Jose Lasers of the American Basketball League, which operated from 1996 to 1998 until competition from the fledgling WNBA drove the league out of business. Sacramento boasted the WNBA’s Monarchs from 1997 to 2009, and since then, crickets.
In 2010, the WNBA held talks with some ABL notables, including cofounder Anne Cribbs and prominent player Jennifer Azzi, about placing the Monarchs in the Bay Area, but when Azzi accepted the head coach job at the University of San Francisco a few months later, the talks died. Then there were rumblings that the Los Angeles Sparks would move to the Bay Area three years ago before Magic Johnson and several other Dodgers investors purchased the Sparks.
The WNBA is the only women’s pro league in the country, and half of the teams are affiliated with NBA teams. Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob, it just so happens, owned the Lasers and long has supported the women’s game.
“Joe has everything to do with basketball and he’s put his money where his mouth is,” Welts said. “The interest is there and I think it would be additive to what we’re doing, but I couldn’t give you a timeline.”
“Joe’s outright said he would like a WNBA team,” said Azzi, who is in regular contact with Lacob and Welts. “The Warriors being so community-minded, it would make sense, and I think there is enough excitement and momentum around the Warriors to get excited about the possibility.”
The WNBA, which recently celebrated its 21st season, initially was supported by the NBA, with 12 teams beginning operations in 1997. The league expanded to 16 teams by 2000, but the economic downturn in 2002 led to several franchises moving or folding; the WNBA currently consists of 12 teams. Things have been on the upswing, however: In 2010, the Connecticut Sun became the first WNBA team to be described as “cash-flow positive,” and by 2013, half of the teams reported profits, according to Sports Media Watch.
After a slight dip several years ago, the WNBA registered its highest attendance in 2017, with a total of 1.574 million. In addition, viewership on ESPN and ESPN2 was up 11 percent, from 202,000 to 224,000. The WNBA League Pass, allowing for out-of-market streaming, had a 24 percent increase in subscriptions.
Chase Arena is scheduled to open for the Warriors’ 2019-20 season, but it’s unclear whether a WNBA team would play there full time — it would be a great way to fill dates during the offseason — or if a smaller building would be better suited for most of the WNBA season’s 17 home games.
“The perfect size would be about 11,000 seats,” Welts said. “I’m a big believer it’s more fun to go to events when the building is full and rocking; you want to sell out the venue and have a packed, exciting atmosphere.”
Welts mentioned the Warriors’ D League Santa Cruz team as a model — the team played one game at Oracle Arena in February and sold 17,497 tickets, but usually plays at Kaiser Permanente Arena, capacity 2,500.
Chase Arena will have a capacity of 18,000, and there are few sports venues in San Francisco in the 11,000-seat range; War Memorial at USF holds 5,300; Civic Auditorium 6,000. The Cow Palace, which holds 13,000 for basketball, might be the best bet unless Chase Arena can be creatively reconfigured to accommodate smaller crowds.
Having the weight of the Warriors behind a WNBA team would be immensely helpful, naturally.
“The WNBA is very healthy with respect to TV. They get a lot of coverage and a team here would benefit from all the coverage the Warriors get,” said Gary Cavalli, who co-founded the ABL. “They can piggyback on promotions with the most successful team in the league and would have instant credibility as part of the Warriors’ organization, get maximum exposure.”
The ABL concentrated its teams in areas with top college programs, which the Bay Area has, but Welts said that the most important factor is having financially sound and supportive ownership.
“Success is much more dependent on the organization’s commitment than on the particular market,” he said. “I think women’s pro basketball could do well in a lot of places, but the Bay Area does have the advantage of being the place that is changing the world right now and I think a women’s team would attract sponsors who would support the sport. I think this is an area that would be quicker to support the WNBA than some areas where there are some barriers.”
Why is women’s pro basketball important? Cribbs and Azzi point toward the sport’s youngest players and fans; Azzi noted that studies show girls’ participation in basketball has declined over the past few years, a concern for the NBA and WNBA alike.
“In my work with the NBA, we’re trying to crack the code on why that’s happening,” said Azzi, who is a global director with the league. “I think it’s all related, and girls need role models. That’s the unfortunate thing about not currently having a team in the Bay Area, and one of the things I loved about playing in the Bay Area with the Lasers. Girls in particular would definitely benefit.”
“It would be big for little girls — and for little boys,” Cribbs said.
Should the Warriors land a WNBA expansion team or relocated franchise in the next few years, Azzi, who lives in Mill Valley, appears perfectly suited for a major role after stepping down from the USF job last year. She has no interest in coaching, however.
“Definitely my interest is on the business side and the community side,” she said.
Meanwhile, in the capital, the Kings’ current ownership has no plans to resurrect a WNBA team in Sacramento. But there remains much love for the Monarchs, who brought the city its lone major professional championship in 2005.
“It’s a huge void,” former Monarchs star Ruthie Bolton said. “A lot of people here don’t even know the WNBA still exists, and they would embrace its return. The fans in Sacramento are amazing.
“I hope the Kings or the Warriors do something to bring in a team — it’s a real need.”
According to Bolton, the Monarchs drew many fans from the Bay Area and she believes the reverse would be true, too.
“People here would support San Francisco, for sure,” she said. “But two teams would be even better.”