The Utah Starzz are making the right moves but suffering from the same difficulties that are hurting the rest of the WNBA in its first Olympically challenged season, said league president Val Ackerman Tuesday.
The league's top executive visited the Delta Center Tuesday night for the game between the Starzz and expansion Seattle Storm, won 66-63 by Utah, and met with media from both teams prior to the game.
All WNBA franchises except the Sacramento Monarchs have drawn fewer fans on a per-game average in this early part of the season than they averaged for the entire 1999 season. Even three-time WNBA champion Houston, with Sheryl Swoopes playing the best of her career, is off an average of 113 fans. Sacramento is averaging 86 more fans per gate than it did for the '99 season.
Utah drew 7,544 per game in '99 but is drawing 5,472 through seven home games in 2000 despite selling more season tickets and an upgraded marketing campaign.
The average for the whole league is off 1,701 from a year ago, but that includes attendance figures of the four expansion teams, which are drawing from 8,728 (Portland) to 10,524 (Indiana) in their first few dates.
Ackerman said she visited with Starzz executives earlier in the day, "and they are doing all the right things. They have a lot of promotional things going on," she said. She said the return of point guard Jennifer Azzi from a broken hand will help Utah. "I believe that Utah will be very competitive," Ackerman said. "I know they have all of that going for them, and we remain very hopeful that the fans will be there."
Answering a Seattle reporter's question, Ackerman said the league still has the power to move a franchise out of a poorly performing situation, something it threatened Utah with until a three-year agreement was worked out last fall.
The change in the WNBA season to accommodate Olympic teams of many countries has detracted some from the fan base because play started before Memorial Day when many children are still in school, NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing and the Indianapolis 500 weekend was in competition with the new Indiana Fever WNBA team.
Ackerman added that many teams have had few weekend dates so far. Utah, for example, has played two Saturday home games and none yet on Friday.
"So I do think the earlier start did have an impact on us this year, and I think we can learn from that going forward," Ackerman said. The Sydney Olympics start in mid-September, and most countries want their team members to practice with their clubs for at least a few weeks; hence, the WNBA's early start. "What I do expect is that history will repeat itself and attendance will pick up as the season goes on," Ackerman said.
As for other matters, the league president said there will be future expansion, but it will be done at a slower pace, even though a number of NBA clubs are asking for WNBA teams. There will be no expansion for 2001. She also said there's no thought of WNBA teams being allowed to use charter aircraft or planes owned or operated by their NBA-partner teams, even though the Washington at Indiana game last week was postponed until August by impossible flying weather.
Ackerman said the talent in the league has improved rather than been diluted by the league's rapid expansion. As proof, she said that of the original 111 players in the league in 1997, only 44 are still on WNBA rosters. "The reality is that many of the players that were good enough to play in the WNBA in 1997 were not good enough to keep their jobs each year the league has been in business. That speaks of the quality of play that just keeps getting better," she said. Also, she said, field-goal and 3-point shooting percentages are up league-wide, and there are more overtime games.
E-MAIL: lham@desnews.com