A 30th season and an $850m franchise: is the WNBA's rocketing growth sustainable?

"Protracted and pugnacious negotiations between the players' union and the league threatened to delay or even wreck the new season. But an accord that hands the players significant pay rises means the league has much to look forward to, as well as plenty to reflect on, as it celebrates 30 years."

"Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has described the 30th season as a transformational moment and the beginning of a new era. An economic boom suggests there's some credibility to those cliches. A $300m agreement reached in March to sell the Sun, based in Connecticut since 2003 and owned by the Mohegan Tribe, to Tilman Fertitta, an entertainment tycoon who owns the NBA's Houston Rockets and was last year named US ambassador to Italy, is a symbol of the WNBA's evolving fortunes."

"The league is leading the way as interest, salaries and team valuations soar in North American women's professional basketball, soccer and ice hockey. The setting Sun whose departure has been met with disappointment by their New England fanbase are expected to be renamed the Houston Comets, reclaiming the brand identity of an original franchise that dominated the nascent WNBA with their formidable Big Three of Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson."

"Founded in April 1996 with the backing of the NBA, which shares ownership of the league with the individual team owners and other investors, the WNBA tipped off the following year, surfing a wave of enthusiasm after the US women won gold at the Atlanta Olympics. It has since expanded and contracted like an accordion's bellows to its 15 teams this season. Only three of the original eight the Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Los Angeles Sparks remain and are still playing in their initial city."

The New York Liberty opened the season wearing uniforms referencing their roots as one of the WNBA’s eight founding members. Negotiations between the players’ union and the league had threatened to delay or derail the season, but an agreement provides significant pay increases. The league marks its 30th season as transformational and the start of a new era, supported by economic growth. A $300 million deal in March to sell the Connecticut Sun to Tilman Fertitta symbolizes shifting fortunes. The Sun are expected to be renamed the Houston Comets, reviving the brand of an original franchise that previously dominated the early WNBA. The WNBA began in 1997 after being founded in April 1996 with NBA backing, and it has since expanded and contracted to 15 teams, with only three original teams still in their initial cities.

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