The Business of the WNBA

 Sacramento Monarchs shut down

It is always sad when sports team shut down, not only for the fans of that team, but for fans of the sport as well. It is tough when economics and other outside business decisions shut down or force a team to relocate. Today the Maloof Family who both the Sacramento Kings of the NBA and the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA announced that they would no longer operate the Monarchs and now the WNBA offices are scrambling to find a new ownership group and a plan to relocate the franchise.

Detroit Shock to move to Tulsa, Okla.

Many sports fans out there will yell and scream that the WNBA is not a sport, and that may well be, however they do have specific market and some of their teams have been very successful both on the court and in the stands. However WNBA teams do not far well when they are in larger markets where other sports franchises have the monopoly on fans attention and pocketbooks.

Detroit Shock to be sold, relocated

The Detroit region of Michigan is losing one of its professional sports teams. The AP is reporting that the Detroit Shock, of the WNBA, will be sold and relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Despite winning three championships the Shock become the latest fringe sport victims of this region.

Where should the WNBA expand to?

Over the past 12 years we have seen the WNBA expand and contract and change the overall business model of the entire league. The firs thought was to run the league and its teams out of a centralized office, then it was thought that pairing up WNBA franchises with team of the NBA was the way to go, now it seems the best way for this league to grow is to find interest third party ownership groups and place WNBA teams in cities that do not feature NBA games.

 What is the WNBA?

The WNBA is a professional women’s basketball league, run by the NBA and most located with current NBA teams. It currently features 13 teams, but may be ready to expand to 14 teams for the 2010 season. Since this league has been around for more than 12 years, ownership of WNBA franchises is starting to trickle outside of the NBA team owners whom they share markets with.