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johnjohnW
Joined: 11 Aug 2020
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 Posted: 05/11/22 5:02 am ::: |
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| myrtle wrote: |
| Richyyy wrote: |
| With how few teams there are, spread around a very large country, you don't add two practically on top of each other. |
Maybe. But I think there are a lot of fans in the Bay Area who would support both. Lots of baseball fans there have season tickets for both. I was in the Bay Area in 1989 when they played each other in the World Series. those who had season tickets for both were in heaven...and some of them literally went there when the major earthquake hit during the series. The East Bay is actually easier to access for many people. It's more central in terms of the population distribution and BART makes it pretty easy to get to the facilities there. |
There isn't a single team in the league that consistently sells out their arena. I'm not sure two half empty Bay Area arenas (both of which are huge arenas to begin with) would be beneficial.
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myrtle
Joined: 02 May 2008
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| Posted: 05/11/22 11:54 am ::: |
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| johnjohnW wrote: |
| myrtle wrote: |
| Richyyy wrote: |
| With how few teams there are, spread around a very large country, you don't add two practically on top of each other. |
Maybe. But I think there are a lot of fans in the Bay Area who would support both. Lots of baseball fans there have season tickets for both. I was in the Bay Area in 1989 when they played each other in the World Series. those who had season tickets for both were in heaven...and some of them literally went there when the major earthquake hit during the series. The East Bay is actually easier to access for many people. It's more central in terms of the population distribution and BART makes it pretty easy to get to the facilities there. |
There isn't a single team in the league that consistently sells out their arena. I'm not sure two half empty Bay Area arenas (both of which are huge arenas to begin with) would be beneficial. |
I'm just saying that having only one team would probably not fill the arena more because there would be a lot of people going to both sites. And the additional folks that would go to one but not the other, still wouldn't go if 'their' side of the Bay didn't have the team.
To be clear, I'm not advocating that the next two teams both go the Bay area. I'd like to see one in someplace like Tennessee. But eventually two teams in the Bay area is not out of the question. And also we need to expand where there are actually owners willing to put their $ where their mouths are.
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readyAIMfire53
Joined: 20 Nov 2004
Posts: 7370
Location: Durham, NC
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| Posted: 05/11/22 12:35 pm ::: |
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Having lived in Berkeley/Oakland (I lived on Alcatraz Ave, so right on the border between the two) I can attest that games in Oakland are VERY easy to get to. I grew up a Dodgers fan, but I could leave work at 5 pm in Berkeley and easily get to an A's game well before gametime on BART. This is a huge PLUS in favor of a team in Oakland. BART runs way south into population centers near San Jose - the largest metro population in northern California. When you have a stadium on the BART line, getting people to the game after work is WAY easier. ZERO fighting traffic. It's easy. Even getting home, gathering family then getting to BART is very doable.
And having Alana Beard is knowing the ownership group will be first class, combining a team with in reach into the community and standing up for people in the community. It looks to be a perfect fit for the forward looking WNBA.
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Richard 77
Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 4140
Location: Lake Mills, Wisconsin
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| Posted: 05/11/22 3:05 pm ::: |
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I would give anything to see the WNBA expand into Wisconsin. A shame it would never happen. I’ll probably have a better chance of hearing about scientists generically engineering pigs to grow wings._________________ If you cannot inspire yourself to read a book about women's basketball, or any book about women's sports, you cannot inspire any young girl or boy to write a book about them. http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Richardstrek |
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WNBA 09
Joined: 26 Jun 2009
Posts: 12528
Location: Dallas , Texas
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| Posted: 05/11/22 6:48 pm ::: |
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| With teams like Indiana Drawing 1K fans for a home game makes me understand why the commissioner is not in a rush to expand….
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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BamaEd
Joined: 11 May 2014
Posts: 855
Location: United States
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| Posted: 05/24/22 8:35 am ::: |
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| WNBA 09 wrote: |
| With teams like Indiana Drawing 1K fans for a home game makes me understand why the commissioner is not in a rush to expand…. |
If 3 cities are vying for 2 slots, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a relocation.
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BamaEd
Joined: 11 May 2014
Posts: 855
Location: United States
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| Posted: 05/24/22 8:50 am ::: |
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I think the article has it right. I think Bay Area is #1. I will take their word on Toronto. I don’t keep up with the NBA so I’m not as familiar with the basketball fandom there. Does it need to be an area with a strong womens college basketball fan base or just basketball or sports in general? But we do have more and more Canadians in the league. Philly is a great idea as well. Just last night or on Sunday in the game the announcers mentioned how one Philly player was guarding another Philly player, so you know that area has plenty of talent. For the south, I think Nashville could make sense. They have Knoxville within driving distance for some games, they are a sports town with the Titans. They have a great tourist industry, so the games would be a great thing for folks tired of bars and music and bachelorette parties. It also has that conservative/progressive dichotomy, so that could be fun to watch.
What about previous cities, would they get another chance: Houston, Sacramento, Cleveland, Detroit, Portland, Miami, Orlando, Charlotte. Out of those, I would think Miami could be a good contender. But Houston having a team again and being able to hang those banners at a WNBA game would be great.
I do hope expansion happens. One thing the article doesn’t mention is how much longer many of the superstars are playing now. Bird is 41, Taurasi turns 40 next month. Players are taking better care of themselves and playing longer at a high level. That and salary caps are limiting the number of available roster spots more each year. You need to keep mixing youth and veterans. You have these players hyped in college unable to even make a roster because 2-3 vets are already in front of them on the depth chart. Or some vets get cut purely due to salary issues. Expansion could help put a better product on the floor by helping better players stay in the league (and hopefully not all bunched up on 1-2 teams!)
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 05/24/22 9:09 am ::: |
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| BamaEd wrote: |
| One thing the article doesn’t mention is how much longer many of the superstars are playing now. Bird is 41, Taurasi turns 40 next month. Players are taking better care of themselves and playing longer at a high level. |
You say that, but Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes both played into their 40's. Recent superstar Maya Moore retired before she turned 30.
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johnjohnW
Joined: 11 Aug 2020
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| Posted: 05/24/22 11:02 am ::: |
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I see a lot of people mention Miami being viable and I cannot figure out how they are getting to that conclusion. Miami is a terrible sports town and I would be hard pressed to believe a new Miami team would draw much better than Atlanta. I think the last thing the league would want is another poorly attended NBA arena.
I think any expansion team should come with a W suitable arena.
Sorry about the vacancy, but I do not think a W team playing in Oracle is a good idea. Just because the venue is empty doesn't mean it's a good fit. The TV product (which is very important), suffers greatly from quarter filled NBA arenas.
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Richyyy
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
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Location: London
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| Posted: 05/24/22 12:17 pm ::: |
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If they were going to go south, somewhere like Tennessee - with the obvious college support for women's college basketball, and where they consistently get good WNBA ratings despite not having a team - would make more sense to me than trying Florida again. Obviously willing and rich ownership is going to be key to where they go, but unless sponsors/broadcasters particularly want Miami I don't see it as an obvious landing spot.
Is there a major metropolis that money people would want the league to be in that isn't already covered? That's basically why the league added Chicago (and probably a big part of Atlanta as well). The general San Francisco Bay area probably fits that, and then we'd probably be talking back to Houston, or maybe Philadelphia? I'll believe Toronto when I see it. Too much of the smoke there seems like it's left over from that guy that really was nothing but talk and was quickly found out on social media. Not sure how much outside of that is actually real, and bringing an extra country into the mix must add extra complications. |
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MuneravenMN
Champion Tipster
Joined: 01 Jun 2008
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| Posted: 05/24/22 1:57 pm ::: |
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| Richard 77 wrote: |
| I would give anything to see the WNBA expand into Wisconsin. A shame it would never happen. I’ll probably have a better chance of hearing about scientists generically engineering pigs to grow wings. |
Me too! I live way up in the boonies on Lake Superior but would travel to Milwaukee or Madison to see a Wisconsin WNBA team. But yeah, I doubt that will ever happen.
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 06/02/22 8:19 am ::: |
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WNBA expansion could add 2 teams before 2024. Here are 6 possible cities
https://theathletic.com/3343324/2022/06/02/wnba-expansion-possible-cities/
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| Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told The Athletic she hopes to identify one or two cities for an expansion franchise by the start of the WNBA playoffs in September or by year’s end at the latest. Those new teams could begin to play as early as the 2024 season |
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