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122-698: The Women's National Basketball Association ( WNBA ) is a women's professional basketball league based in the United States and will include 13 teams as of the 2025 season. It is considered as the premier professional women's basketball league in the world. The league was founded on April 24, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA). League play began in 1997. The regular season runs from May to September, with each team playing 44 games. The top eight teams (regardless of conference) qualify for

244-513: A 66-game regular season following the lockout. Many news outlets began covering the league more frequently. NBA TV , the television home of the NBA scheduled over 70 regular-season games to be televised (along with a dozen more on ESPN2 and ABC ). The new influx of young talent into the league gave many teams something to be excited about. Players like Candace Parker of the Sparks , Maya Moore of

366-489: A combination of bad investments, careless spending, and a lack of non-athletic skills. The wear and tear of a career in professional sport, can cause physical and mental side effects (such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy , a condition that has seen a massive rise in public awareness in the 2010s) that can harm a former professional athlete's employability. In the United States, some of these problems are mitigated by

488-409: A combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations or teams can command large incomes. As a result, more sportspeople can afford to make sport their primary career, devoting the training time necessary to increase skills, physical condition, and experience to modern levels of achievement. This proficiency has also helped boost

610-525: A company ( aircraft industry , food workers , tractor industry ) or organization ( KGB , Red Army , Soviet Air Force ) that sponsored what would be presented as an after-hours social sports society team for their workers . Christians in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement , which adheres to the position of first-day Sabbatarianism , oppose the viewing of or participation in professional sports, believing that professional sports leagues profane

732-657: A faster pace. As a league, the 2010 average of 80.35 points per game was the best, far surpassing the 69.2 average in the league's inaugural season . On October 20, 2009, the WNBA announced that the Detroit Shock would relocate to Tulsa, Oklahoma , to become the Tulsa Shock . On November 20, 2009, the WNBA announced that the Sacramento Monarchs had folded due to lack of support from its current owners,

854-458: A force behind the revival of the modern Olympic Games . The tension between the two sporting practices and ideals dates from the inception of modern organized sports in the 19th century. The high political and financial stakes involved in sport have ensured that this tension has remained strong. Professional sporting organizations have often developed as "rebel" organizations in relation to established national and international federation, for example

976-485: A great deal of money at the highest levels; for instance, in 2024 the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team is set to pay 70 million dollars to its highest-paid player, Shohei Ohtani . Per Forbes 2021 ranking, the highest-paid athletes include Cristiano Ronaldo , Lionel Messi , Naomi Osaka , Tiger Woods , Serena Williams and wrestler-turned-actor The Rock . The top ten tennis players make about $ 3 million

1098-607: A handful of small towns. Amid pressure from television networks that were threatening to offer the WHL a contract, the NHL doubled in size in 1967 , beginning a period of expansion that lasted through much of the 1970s. The last major challenger to the NHL's dominance was the World Hockey Association , which successfully broke the NHL's reserve clause in court, drove up professional hockey salaries, and continued to pressure

1220-617: A new CBA to take effect with the 2020 season and running through 2027. Among the features of the new agreement were: Also in January 2020, the WNBA announced a new in-season tournament, the Commissioner's Cup , which would begin with the 2020 season. Each team was scheduled to play 10 Cup games during the season: specifically, the first home and road games against each team in its conference. The final Cup games were to be played in July, with

1342-506: A record of 13–21 in 2004, but returned in 2005 with a 19–15 record, finishing 3rd. In the first round, the Comets knocked out the 2004 defending champion Seattle Storm in 3 games, but lost in the conference finals to the Sacramento Monarchs in a sweep, which Sacramento later became WNBA Champions in 2005. Houston would return to the playoffs with an 18–16 record, but lost to the 2005 defending champion Sacramento Monarchs in another sweep. 2006

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1464-645: A significant profit, the second-highest American football league in the United States, the United Football League , consistently struggled to pay its bills and has continually lost money despite allotting its players only US$ 20,000 a year, and television networks made the league pay for television airtime instead of paying the league, making the league's business model unworkable. In the United States and Canada, most lower-end professional leagues run themselves as affiliated farm teams , effectively agreeing to develop younger players for eventual play in

1586-511: A stunning last-second, half-court, buzzer beater by the Liberty's Teresa Weatherspoon in Game 2 -- as it appeared the Comets were set to win the title -- to beat the Liberty in three games and win their third straight title, this one after the death of teammate Kim Perrot , who died of cancer . In 2000, behind league MVP Sheryl Swoopes and eventual WNBA Finals MVP Cynthia Cooper, the Comets beat

1708-554: A traditional object of criticism by proponents of the amateur philosophy of sport, according to which the central ethos of sport is competition performed for its own sake and pure enjoyment rather than as a means of earning a living. Examples of amateur philosophy include the muscular Christianity movement that informed the promotion of sports in the English public school system, and the Olympism advocated by Pierre de Coubertin ,

1830-658: A worst-to-first turnaround with the Shock finishing the season 25–9 and in first place in the Eastern Conference. After winning the first two rounds of the Playoffs, the Shock faced two-time champion, Los Angeles Sparks , and Lisa Leslie in the 2003 Finals . The Shock defeated the Sparks , winning Game Three on a three-pointer by Deanna Nolan . After the 2003 season , the Cleveland Rockers , one of

1952-538: A year on average. Much of the growth in income for sports and athletes has come from broadcasting rights ; for example, the most recent television contract for the NFL is valued at nearly US$ 5 billion per year. Women tend to earn considerably less than men in such sports as basketball, golf, football (soccer), softball and baseball. The exception is tennis where women tend to have salaries comparable to those of their male counterparts. The highest-paid female athlete in 2019

2074-486: Is $ 70,250 for most players, and for players on the reserve roster (slots #25-28) the minimum salary is $ 56,250. In 1970, the average salary in Major League Baseball in the U.S. and Canada was $ 20,000 ($ 156,915 inflation-adjusted). By 2005, the average salary had increased to $ 2,632,655 ($ 4,107,103 inflation-adjusted) and the minimum salary was $ 316,000 (adjusted: $ 492,979). In 2012 the average MLB salary

2196-467: Is inconceivable." In 1871, the first professional baseball league was created. By the beginning of the 20th century, most large cities in the eastern United States had a professional baseball team. After several leagues came and went in the 19th century, the National League (founded in 1876) and American League (recognized as a major league in 1903) were established as the dominant leagues by

2318-588: Is nothing new. According to Cooky, female athletes need more visibility to ensure their access to necessary resources and financial security, which has an impact on their professional development. Outside the highest leagues, however, the money professional athletes can earn drops dramatically, as fan bases are generally smaller and there are no television revenues. For instance, while the National Football League 's teams can afford to pay their players millions of dollars each year and still maintain

2440-453: Is provided for the Cup, with players on the winning team guaranteed a minimum bonus of $ 30,000 and those of the losing team guaranteed $ 10,000, with the championship game MVP receiving an extra $ 5,000. Professional basketball In professional sports , as opposed to amateur sports , participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through

2562-654: The 2001 WNBA season was the Los Angeles Sparks . Led by Lisa Leslie , the Sparks posted a regular-season record of 28–4. They advanced to their first WNBA Finals and swept the Charlotte Sting . Looking to repeat in 2002, the Sparks again made a strong run toward the postseason, going 25–7 in the regular season under head coach Michael Cooper , who formerly for the Los Angeles Lakers . Again, Leslie dominated her opponents throughout

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2684-568: The American Basketball Association . Professional basketball has the advantages of much smaller rosters than other professional sports, allowing the sport to be viable in smaller cities than other sports. Professional basketball leagues of varying caliber can be found around the world, especially in Europe and South America. Basketball mainly became popular in the early 1980s when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird joined

2806-706: The Dallas–Fort Worth region in Texas and were renamed the Dallas Wings , and in 2018 the San Antonio Stars went to Nevada , becoming the Las Vegas Aces . During the 2018 season, the WNBA players' union opted out of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the league, which ended after the 2019 season. In January 2020, the league and union announced that they had reached an agreement on

2928-819: The German Football League , Austrian Football League , the new European League of Football and the X-League . There are over 60 countries that have leagues throughout the world. The rise of indoor American football from the late 1980s allowed smaller-scale professional football to be viable. Baseball originated before the American Civil War (1861–1865). First played on sandlots in particular, scoring and record-keeping gave baseball gravity. "Today," notes John Thorn in The Baseball Encyclopedia, "baseball without records

3050-747: The Lynx , DeWanna Bonner of the Mercury , Angel McCoughtry of the Dream , Sylvia Fowles of the Sky , Tina Charles of the Sun , and Liz Cambage of the Shock brought a new level of excitement to the game, adding talent to the teams of young veterans such as Diana Taurasi , Seimone Augustus and Cappie Pondexter . The level of play seemed to be evidenced by higher scoring, better defense, and higher shooting percentages. By

3172-648: The Maloof family , who were also the owners of the Sacramento Kings at the time. The league announced it would seek new owners to relocate the team to the San Francisco Bay area ; however, no ownership was found and a dispersal draft was held on December 14, 2009. The 2010 season saw a tight race in the East , with three teams being tied for first place on the final day of the regular season. Five of

3294-737: The New England Patriots were accepted into the NFL in 1970); the NFL expanded coast-to-coast, the first of the four major leagues to do so, in 1946 with the Los Angeles Rams and admitted the San Francisco 49ers four years later; the NFL did not enter the Southern United States until admitting the Dallas Cowboys , Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints in the 1960s. A championship game

3416-955: The New York Liberty facing the Los Angeles Sparks in Los Angeles . The Liberty defeated the Sparks 67-57. A crowd of 14,284 attended the game at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California . The game was televised nationally in the United States on the NBC television network. At the start of the 1997 season, the WNBA had television deals in with NBC ( NBA rights holder), the Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation joint venture channels, ESPN , and Lifetime Television Network. Penny Toler scored

3538-592: The national governing body for basketball in the United States. The league's headquarters are located in New York, NY . The creation of the WNBA was officially approved by the NBA Board of Governors on April 24, 1996, and announced at a press conference with Rebecca Lobo , Lisa Leslie , and Sheryl Swoopes in attendance. The new WNBA had to compete with the recently formed American Basketball League , another professional women's basketball league that began play in

3660-523: The 1930s and Canada's entry into World War II, greatly reducing the league's player pool, led to the league's retrenchment to six markets: Boston, New York City, Chicago and Detroit in the U.S., and Toronto and Montreal in Canada. These Original Six cities were the only cities with NHL franchises from 1935 to 1967. During this time, the NHL was both stagnant and restrictive in its policies, giving teams territorial advantages, having teams with multiple owners in

3782-556: The 1950s with the evolution of the Canadian Football League . The CFL, despite losing all games in a series of contests against the NFL, was considered to be at least comparable in talent to the American leagues of the 1960s (its lone game against an AFL squad was a victory). Because Canada has a tenth of the population of the United States, the ability to make money from television was much lower, and although some of

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3904-524: The 2003 preseason and the 2003 WNBA draft . As a result of the strike, the league received negative publicity. Former Detroit Pistons forward, Bill Laimbeer , took over the Detroit Shock in 2002 as head coach and general manager. He had high hopes for the Detroit Shock , despite the team having gone just 9–23 its previous season. Three Shock members made it the 2003 All-Star Game ( Swin Cash , Cheryl Ford , and Deanna Nolan ) and Laimbeer orchestrated

4026-607: The 2008 regular season, the first-ever outdoor professional basketball game in North America was played at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City. The Indiana Fever defeated the New York Liberty 71–55 in front of over 19,000 fans. Late in 2008, the WNBA took over ownership of one of the league's original franchises, the Houston Comets . The Comets ceased operations on December 1, 2008, after no owners for

4148-468: The 2009–2010 Bundesliga season. The highest-paid player for the 2010–11 Bundesliga season was Franck Ribéry of Bayern Munich who received a salary of €6.3 million after income tax. In the Italian top league, Serie A , the average salary was about €5 million for the 2010–2011 Serie A season, up from €1 million in the 2005–2006 Serie A season. The highest-paid player for the 2010–2011 Serie A season

4270-401: The 2010 season. The highest-paid player for the 2011 Chinese Super League season was Dario Conca of Guangzhou Evergrande who received an annual salary of ¥67.4 million ($ 10.5 million) after income tax, putting him among the highest-paid players in the world. The highest-paid player for the 2011–2012 Russian Premier League season was Samuel Eto'o of Anzhi Makhachkala , who at the end of

4392-491: The 2011–12 season was expected to receive a total salary of RUB 900.2 million (£35.7 million) after income tax, making Eto'o the second highest-earning athlete in the world and the highest-paid footballer in the world followed by Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimović . The average salary of a player in the German Bundesliga was about €3.3 million (£2.5 million) for the 2010–11 season, up from €2.5 million in

4514-502: The Bradenton complex, and all games and practices took place there. Players had until June 25 to let their teams know whether they planned to participate. On March 15, 2021, an announcement was made that the WNBA would introduce a ceremonial logo, basketball, and uniforms as part of its 25th anniversary celebratory campaign called "Count It". As part of the campaign, the league unveiled The W25 , consisting of 25 players determined to be

4636-472: The Caribbean states. Basketball was invented in 1891 and the first professional leagues emerged in the 1920s. The Basketball Association of America was established in 1946 and three years later became the modern National Basketball Association . The NBA was slower to establish dominance of the sport than other sports in the United States, as it would not do so until 1976, when it absorbed four teams from

4758-474: The Comets and disbanded the team in December 2008. They stated that they would only be suspending operations in 2009, which some people saw as a sign that the franchise could be revived if an investor came in. Comets players were sent off to other teams in a dispersal draft. League president Donna Orender said that the collapse of the Comets was not a sign that the WNBA was in trouble. Cynthia Cooper said that

4880-587: The Comets would be moving from the Toyota Center to Reliant Arena for the 2008 WNBA season. This resulted in a loss of fans. The Toyota Center drew 13,000 fans, but the Reliant Arena could only house 7,200. In 2008, the Comets' final year, they only drew an average 6,000 fans per game and sold out four games. In 2008, Koch put the team up for sale, with an asking price of $ 10 million, however no investors stepped up. The WNBA took over management of

5002-648: The Decatur Staleys moved to Chicago in 1921 and changed their name to the Bears the following year. Ten APFA players along with Carr are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, set up in 1963 not far from the Canton automobile dealership that gave birth to the NFL in 1920. The APFA, by 1922 known as the National Football League , has remained the predominant professional American football league in

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5124-499: The Decatur club. As opposed to today's standard 17-game schedule, clubs in 1920 scheduled their own opponents and could play non-league and even college squads that counted toward their records. With no established guidelines, the number of games played—and the quality of opponents scheduled—by APFA teams varied, and the league did not maintain official standings. The inaugural season was a struggle. Games received little attention from

5246-611: The Eastern Conference and knocked out first-seeded Connecticut in the second round of the Playoffs. The Shock faced reigning champion Sacramento Monarchs in a five-game series, winning in Game Five on their home floor. In December 2006, the Charlotte Bobcats organization announced it would no longer operate the Charlotte Sting . Soon after, the WNBA announced that the Sting would not operate for 2007. A dispersal draft

5368-409: The Liberty again, this time in two games, to win their fourth straight title cementing themselves as the greatest WNBA team ever assembled. This was the Comets' last championship and last Finals appearance in franchise history. The Comets suffered two blows before the 2001 season--Cooper retired and Swoopes tore her ACL. Despite playing without the two biggest stars from their title runs, Houston made

5490-459: The Mercury to falter in 2008. The team posted a 16–18 record and became the first team in WNBA history to miss the Playoffs after winning the championship in the previous season. In their place, the Detroit Shock won their third championship under coach Bill Laimbeer , solidifying their place in WNBA history before Laimbeer resigned early in 2009, effectively ending the Shock dynasty. During

5612-796: The NBA and lead their teams to multiple NBA titles. They are considered two of the best players of all time usually underneath Michael Jordan . Michael Jordan also gained the NBA views with carrying the Chicago Bulls to six titles in the 1990s. In the 1920s some cricketers from the Caribbean played professional cricket in Britain. After World War II , professional cricketers from the Indian subcontinent were enlisted in British teams. Ice hockey

5734-403: The NFL instead allowed games to be televised nationwide, except in a team's home city ; the restriction was softened in the early 1970s, by which point the NFL had secured broadcast deals with all of the major television networks , another major factor in the inability of any competing league to gain traction since then. The related sport of Canadian football was eventually professionalized by

5856-434: The Playoffs, leading the Sparks to a perfect 6–0 record, beating the New York Liberty in the 2002 Finals . Teams and the league were collectively owned by the NBA until the end of 2002, when the NBA sold WNBA teams either to their NBA counterparts in the same city or to a third party as a result of the dot-com bubble . This led to two teams moving: Utah moved to San Antonio , and Orlando moved to Connecticut and became

5978-706: The Sabbath , compete with a Christian's primary commitment to God, exhibit a lack of modesty in the players' and cheerleaders' uniforms, are associated with violence and extensive use of profanity among many players, and encourage gambling, as well as alcohol and other drugs at sporting events, which go against a commitment to teetotalism . Laestadian Lutherans , who belong to the Pietistic Lutheran tradition, likewise teach that "Competitive sports are not acceptable, but we should maintain fitness through various forms of exercise." Professional sportsmen can earn

6100-413: The Senior Vice President of the PGA Tour and who had played for several teams in the now-defunct Women's Pro Basketball League , would be Ackerman 's successor as of April 2005. The WNBA awarded an expansion team to Chicago (later named the Sky ) in February 2006. In the off-season, a set of rule changes was approved that made the WNBA more like the NBA. In 2006, the league reached a milestone as

6222-505: The Spanish La Liga , the average salary for the players of Lionel Messi's club FC Barcelona was €6.5 million for the 2010–2011 La Liga season, up from €5.5 million for the 2009–2010 La Liga season. The average salary of a player in the English Premier League was about £2.6 million in the 2017–18 season, compared with about £1.2 million in 2007–08 and £676,000 in 2006–07. Even as early as 2010–11, top players such as John Terry and Steven Gerrard could make up to £7 million per year with

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6344-413: The St. Paul Ideals 48–0. The first head-to-head battles in the league occurred one week later as Dayton topped Columbus 14-0 and Rock Island pasted Muncie 45–0. Forward passes were rare, coaching from the sidelines was prohibited and players competed on both offense and defense. Money was so tight that George Halas carried equipment, wrote press releases, sold tickets, taped ankles, played and coached for

6466-442: The United States (a distinction held by the defunct WBL ), the WNBA is the only league to receive full backing of the NBA . The WNBA logo, "Logo Woman", paralleled the NBA logo and was selected out of 50 different designs. On the heels of a much-publicized gold medal run by the 1996 USA Basketball Women's National Team at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games , the WNBA began its first season on June 21, 1997. The first WNBA game featured

6588-565: The United States, and, effectively, the entire world. The evolution from a haphazard collection of teams in big and small cities to the much more rigid structure it is in the present was gradual. With most of the small-market teams except the Green Bay Packers squeezed out of the NFL by the time of the Great Depression , multiple attempts at teams in the major cities of Washington , New York , Detroit , Cleveland, and Philadelphia failed before, eventually, their current representatives took root (though Boston proved particularly problematic until

6710-470: The Western Conference. Facing the reigning champions, the Detroit Shock , the Mercury imposed their high-scoring offense with hopes of capturing their first title in franchise history. Averaging 93.2 points per game in the Finals , the Mercury beat Detroit on their home floor in front of 22,076 fans in game five to claim their first-ever WNBA title. In October 2007, the WNBA awarded another expansion franchise to Atlanta . Atlanta businessman Ron Terwilliger

6832-400: The Western Conference. In 1998, they finished 27–3 – a .900 winning percentage, a WNBA record that still stands. They went on to repeat as champions, defeating the Phoenix Mercury in the first-ever WNBA Finals , which had become a three-game championship series. In 1999, led by what was already known as the Big Three , (Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson), the Comets survived

6954-468: The amateur rules of the International Olympic Committee to retain their amateur status and compete in the Olympics . The modern-day descendant of the Soviet league, the Kontinental Hockey League , is fully professional and has some teams outside Russia, to the point where it has the resources to sign NHL veterans. Other European countries including Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, and Austria have prominent professional leagues. Rugby union

7076-420: The bench in June and fellow rookie Danielle Robinson had a 36-point game in September. Atlanta Dream forward, Angel McCoughtry , was the first player in league history to average over 20 points per game (21.6ppg) while playing under 30 minutes per game (27.9mpg). McCoughtry led her team to the Finals for the second straight year, but despite breaking her own Finals scoring record, the Dream were swept for

7198-452: The cities of Canada were comparable to the major markets of the U.S., teams in places such as Saskatchewan and Hamilton were in markets quite small compared to even the small markets of the NFL, thus the CFL pays significantly less than other major professional leagues, though enough to be considered fully professional. Europe, Japan, Mexico also have American football leagues of varying levels that sign professional players. The top leagues are

7320-441: The early Houston Comets championship teams, the Phoenix Mercury had risen to prominence led by their own "Big Three" of Cappie Pondexter , Diana Taurasi , and Penny Taylor . The Mercury were well-suited for the fast offense driven by their three stars. Phoenix averaged a league-record 88.97 points per game in 2007. Other teams could not keep up with their new style of play, and the Mercury were propelled into first place in

7442-415: The early 20th century. The most victorious team in each league was said to have won the "pennant;" the two pennant winners met after the end of the regular season in the World Series. The winner of at least four games (out of a possible seven) was the champion for that year. This arrangement still holds today, although the leagues are now subdivided and pennants are decided in post-season playoff series between

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7564-413: The end of an era for the WNBA and the ushering of another. On the court, the Minnesota Lynx won their second title in three years, defeating the Atlanta Dream in the Finals and becoming the first team to sweep the playoff series since the Seattle Storm . The promotion of Griner , Delle Donne , and Diggins helped boost television ratings for the league by 28 percent, and half of the teams ended

7686-414: The end of it. We expect to keep growing the league." In 1999, the league's chief competition, the American Basketball League (ABL), declared bankruptcy. Many of the ABL's star players, including several Olympic gold medalists (such as Nikki McCray and Dawn Staley ) and a number of standout college performers (including Kate Starbird and Jennifer Rizzotti ), joined the rosters of WNBA teams, enhancing

7808-545: The end of the 2011 regular season , nine of the twelve teams in the league had increased attendance over their 2010 averages . Connecticut Sun center, Tina Charles , set a league record for double-doubles in a season with 23. Also, Sylvia Fowles of the Chicago Sky became only the second player in WNBA history to finish a season averaging at least 20 points (20.0ppg) and 10 rebounds (10.2rpg) per game. The San Antonio Silver Stars experienced boosts from their young players as well; rookie Danielle Adams scored 32 points off

7930-417: The fact that the college sports system ensures most professional athletes receive a college education with no student debt, a legacy that provides them with a career path after their sports career ends. In the NFL average annual salaries by position in 2009 were: The average salary of a player in the Chinese Super League was about ¥ 10.7 million (£1 million) for the 2011 season, up from ¥600,000 in

8052-404: The fall of 1996, but would cease operation during its 1998–99 season. The WNBA began with eight teams: the Charlotte Sting , Cleveland Rockers , Houston Comets , and New York Liberty in the Eastern Conference; and the Los Angeles Sparks , Phoenix Mercury , Sacramento Monarchs , and Utah Starzz in the Western Conference. While not the first major women's professional basketball league in

8174-475: The fans, and even less from the press. According to Robert W. Peterson's book "Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football," APFA games averaged crowds of 4,241. The association bylaws called for teams to pay a US$ 100 entry fee, but no one ever did. The season concluded on 19 December. At the conclusion of the season there were no play-offs (that innovation, although New York's regional league had used it, did not arrive until 1933) and it took more than four months before

8296-400: The first WNBA championship game. The initial "We Got Next" advertisement ran before each season until it was replaced with a "We Got Game" campaign. Two teams were added in 1998 ( Detroit and Washington ), and two more in 1999 ( Orlando and Minnesota ), bringing the total number of teams in the league up to 12. The 1999 season began with a collective bargaining agreement between players and

8418-402: The first WNBA team to be owned by a third party instead of an NBA franchise. This sale of teams also led to two teams folding, the Miami Sol and Portland Fire , because new owners could not be found. The Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) threatened to strike in 2003 if a new deal was not worked out between players and the league. The result was a delay in the start of

8540-621: The first team-oriented women's professional sports league to exist for ten consecutive seasons. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary, the WNBA released its All-Decade Team , comprising the ten WNBA players who had contributed, through on-court play and off-court activities, the most to women's basketball during the league's existence. After not making it to the Finals in 2004 and 2005, the Shock bounced back in 2006 behind newly acquired Katie Smith , along with six remaining members from their 2003 Finals run ( Cash , Ford , Holland-Corn , Nolan , Powell , and Riley ). The Shock finished second in

8662-484: The first two rounds to advance to the Finals in only the third year of the team's existence. After the 2010 season, President Orender announced she would be resigning from her position as of December 31. On April 21, 2011, NBA commissioner David Stern announced that former Girl Scouts of the USA Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Laurel J. Richie , would assume duties as president on May 16, 2011. The 2011 season began with strong publicity brought on by

8784-403: The founding teams in the WNBA. Their first four seasons were marked by dominant success in the league, as they became the WNBA's first dynasty. They capped off the league's inaugural season in 1997 with a win over the New York Liberty in the WNBA championship game to win the WNBA's first championship. When the league expanded the next season, the Comets were moved from the Eastern Conference to

8906-476: The franchise could be found. A dispersal draft took place on December 8, 2008, with the first pick, Sancho Lyttle , taken by the Atlanta Dream . After an unsatisfying conclusion in 2008, the Mercury looked to bounce back to championship caliber. New head coach Corey Gaines implemented Paul Westhead 's style of play, and the Mercury averaged 92.82 points per game throughout the 2009 season. Helped by

9028-639: The game in 1892. Regional leagues in Chicago, Pennsylvania , Ohio and New York had coalesced in the 1900s and 1910s, most of which gave way to the American Professional Football Association in 1920. By 1920, pro football remained overshadowed by the college game. The first game involving an APFA team took place on 26 September 1920, at Douglas Park in Rock Island, Illinois, as the hometown Independents flattened

9150-660: The highest average salaries in 2017–18, with players for both Manchester United and Manchester City averaging over £5.2 million. Players in lower divisions make significantly less money. In 2006–07 the average salary of a player in the Championship (the second tier of the English football pyramid) made £195,750 while the average salary for League One and League Two (tiers 3 and 4) combined were £49,600. The highest salary in Major League Soccer in 2019

9272-730: The introduction of professionalism varied widely, and the highest-caliber league on the continent, the Soviet Championship League (proven to be at least equal to or better than the NHL in the 1970s), was officially populated with ostensibly amateur players who were actually full-time sportspeople hired as regular workers of a company ( aircraft industry , food workers , tractor industry ) or organization ( KGB , Red Army , Soviet Air Force ) that sponsored what would be presented as an after-hours social sports society hockey team for their workers. In other words, all Soviet hockey players were de facto professionals who circumvented

9394-465: The league before the NFL subsumed their operations. Minor league football, although their leagues' memberships were unstable, began to arise in the late 1930s and remained viable as a business model up into the 1970s. A major factor in the NFL's rise to dominance was its embrace of television early in the sport's history. As college football heavily restricted the rights of its teams to broadcast games (a policy eventually ruled to be illegal in 1984),

9516-473: The league emerged as an international force after World War II. NPB is considered to be the highest caliber of baseball outside the U.S. major leagues, and the best Japanese players often emigrate to the U.S. by way of the posting system . Other countries where the game is important include South Korea (where their league has its own posting system with Major League Baseball), Taiwan, Mexico, Latin America, and

9638-584: The league even bothered to crown a champion. Much as college football did for decades, the APFA determined its victor by ballot. On 30 April 1921, team representatives voted the Akron Pros, which completed the season undefeated with eight wins and three ties while yielding only a total of seven points, the champion in spite of protests by the one-loss teams in Decatur and Buffalo, who each had tied Akron and had more wins, thanks in part to Akron's owner presiding over

9760-443: The league's first point. The WNBA centered its marketing campaign, dubbed "We Got Next", around stars Rebecca Lobo , Lisa Leslie , and Sheryl Swoopes . In the league's first season, Leslie's Los Angeles Sparks underperformed and Swoopes sat out much of the season due to her pregnancy. Perhaps the WNBA's first star was MVP Cynthia Cooper , Swoopes' teammate on the Houston Comets . The Comets defeated Lobo's New York Liberty in

9882-405: The league's greatest and most influential, as chosen by a panel of media and pioneering women's players. The delayed launch of the Commissioner's Cup was officially announced on May 12, 2021, two days before the start of the regular season. The originally planned schedule, with the first home game and first road game of each team against each of its fellow conference members doubling as Cup games,

10004-602: The league's inception. Led by the "Big Three" of Sheryl Swoopes , Tina Thompson , and Cynthia Cooper (who won the Finals MVP for all four championships), the Comets dominated every team in the league. Under head coach Van Chancellor , the team posted a 98–24 record their first four seasons (16–3 in the Playoffs ). After 2000, Cooper retired from the league, and the Comets ' dynasty came to an end. The top contender in

10126-413: The league's original eight teams, folded because its owners were unwilling to continue operating the franchise. Val Ackerman , the first WNBA president, resigned effective February 1, 2005, citing the desire to spend more time with her family. Ackerman later became president of USA Basketball . On February 15, 2005, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that Donna Orender , who had been serving as

10248-654: The league, marking the first collective bargaining agreement to be signed in the history of women's professional sports . That year, the WNBA also announced that it would add four more teams for the 2000 season (the Indiana Fever , the Seattle Storm , the Miami Sol , and the Portland Fire ), bringing the league up to 16 teams. WNBA President Val Ackerman discussed expansion by saying, "This won't be

10370-576: The loss of the Comets was "disturbing news" and that the Comets were integral to the WNBA. The Comets played their final home game on September 15, 2008 at the Strahan Coliseum on the campus of Texas State due to Hurricane Ike . They defeated the Sacramento Monarchs 90–81. They finished the season 17–17 and missed the playoffs for the third time in their history. In April 2024, the Rockets, now led by Tilman Fertitta , had submitted to

10492-491: The major leagues in 1947; until then black players had been restricted to the Negro leagues . Starting in the late 1950s, major league baseball expanded its geographical range. Western cities acquired teams, either by luring them to move from eastern cities or by forming expansion teams with players made available by established teams. Until the 1970s, because of strict contracts, the owners of baseball teams also virtually owned

10614-482: The major leagues in exchange for subsidizing those players' salaries; this is known as the minor league system and is most prevalent in professional baseball and professional ice hockey . Otherwise, the league may be required to classify itself as semi-professional , in other words, able to pay their players a small sum, but not enough to cover the player's basic costs of living. Many professional athletes experience financial difficulties soon after retiring, due to

10736-598: The meeting. The victors received a silver loving cup donated by sporting goods company Brunswick-Balke-Collender. While players were not given diamond-encrusted rings, they did receive golden fobs in the shape of a football inscribed with the words "World Champions." The whereabouts of the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup , only given out that one time, are unknown. The legacy of two APFA franchises continues. The Racine Cardinals now play in Arizona, and

10858-467: The most thrilling games in WNBA history in game one of the series (Phoenix winning in overtime, 120–116). The Mercury beat the Fever in game five, this time on their home court, capturing their second WNBA championship. Not only did Paul Westhead 's system influence his Mercury team, but it created a domino effect throughout the league. Young athletic players were capable of scoring more and playing at

10980-698: The northwestern U.S., and the National Hockey Association of central Canada, both of which competed for the then-independent Stanley Cup . The NHA's teams reorganized as the National Hockey League in 1917, and the West Coast circuit died out by the mid-1920s. By 1926, the NHL had expanded to ten teams in Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States. However, the onset of the Great Depression in

11102-459: The older league into expansion. The WHA merged four of its remaining teams into the NHL in 1979, but had to give up most of its players, as they were still under NHL contract and had to return to their original teams. The NHL made its last pronounced realignment in the 1990s, moving most of the WHA teams out of their markets and establishing a number of new teams in the southern United States. In Europe,

11224-579: The overall quality of play in the league. When a lockout resulted in an abbreviated NBA season, the WNBA saw faltering TV viewership. On May 23, 2000, the Houston Comets became the first WNBA team to be invited to the White House Rose Garden . Before this invitation, only men's sports teams had traveled to the White House . At the end of the 2000 season, the Houston Comets won their fourth championship, capturing every title since

11346-537: The players of Premier League club Manchester City F.C. receiving an average salary of £2 million in that season. Premier League salaries have boomed in more recent years thanks to massive television deals and wealthy new investors in clubs. Terry's and Gerrard's 2010–11 salaries would not have placed them among the top 25 earners in 2017–18. In that season, more than 20 players earned more than £10 million, led by Alexis Sánchez (£21.5 million) and Mesut Özil (£20.9 million). The Premier League's two Manchester clubs had

11468-535: The players; the rules then changed so that players could become free agents within certain limits, free to sell their services to any team. The resulting bidding wars led to players becoming increasingly wealthy. Disputes between the players' union and the owners have at times halted baseball for months at a time (e.g., 1994–95 player strike ). A prominent professional baseball circuit known as Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) also developed in Japan. Founded in 1934,

11590-563: The playoffs with a 19–13 record before falling in the first round to the eventual champion Los Angeles Sparks . In 2002, Swoopes won her second MVP and the Comets finished 24–8, but lost to the Utah Starzz in 3 games. In 2003, they qualified to the playoffs for the 7th straight year, but they lost in the first round to the Sacramento Monarchs in 3 games. They missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history with

11712-639: The playoffs, culminating in the WNBA Finals , which is played in October. The All-Star Game occurs midway through the season in July (except in Olympic years). The league hosts an annual mid-season competition, the Commissioner's Cup , the dates of which vary from year to year. The WNBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) as

11834-487: The popularity of sports. In most sports played professionally there are many more amateur than professional players, though amateurs and professionals do not usually compete. American football (commonly known as football in the United States) was professionalized in the 1890s as a slow, and initially covert, process; Pudge Heffelfinger and Ben "Sport" Donnelly were the first to secretly accept payment for playing

11956-471: The return of Penny Taylor , the Mercury once again locked up first place in the Western Conference and advanced to the 2009 Finals . The championship series was a battle of contrasting styles as the Mercury (number one league offense, 92.82 points per game) had to face the Indiana Fever (number three league defense, 73.55 points per game). The series went five games, including arguably one of

12078-441: The rising young stars of the league and the NBA lockout. The 2011 NBA lockout began on July 1, 2011. Unlike the previous lockout, which affected the WNBA, president Laurel J. Richie confirmed that this lockout would not affect the WNBA. If the NBA season was shortened or canceled, the 2012 WNBA season (including the WNBA teams still owned by NBA owners) would run as planned. The lockout ended on November 26, and NBA teams would play

12200-455: The sale of the team to Hilton Koch , a Houston-based mattress and furniture businessman. Two weeks later, Comets assistant coach Karleen Thompson was named to become the team's new head coach and general manager for the 2007 season. For the 2007 season, they would miss the playoffs for the second time in franchise history after starting the season 0–10, resulting in a 13–21 record. On December 12, 2007, team owner Hilton Koch announced that

12322-497: The same family (thus allowing the best players to be stacked onto certain teams), and restricting its players' salaries through reserve clauses . This stagnation allowed other leagues to arise: the Western Hockey League soon became the de facto major league of the western states and provinces, and the second-tier American Hockey League emerged in a number of midwestern markets the NHL had neglected, in addition to

12444-548: The schism which created the code of rugby league. Arguments against amateurism often appeal to the argument that amateurism in sport favors the classes who can afford not to be paid to play, and is thus a covert form of prejudice against lower classes. Another argument is that amateur players are often de facto professionals who retain their amateur status by earning allowances instead of salaries. For example, all Eastern bloc countries were populated with amateur players who were actually full-time athletes hired as regular workers of

12566-503: The season profitable. The improved health of the league was on display after the season, when the Los Angeles Sparks ' ownership group folded; it took the league only a few weeks to line up Guggenheim Partners to purchase the team, and the franchise also garnered interest from the ownership of the Golden State Warriors . Two more franchise relocations happened in the following years, as the Tulsa Shock moved in 2016 to

12688-478: The second straight year, this time by the Minnesota Lynx , which won its first title behind a fully healthy Seimone Augustus . 2012 featured a long Olympic break. The Indiana Fever won that year's WNBA championship. The much-publicized 2013 WNBA draft produced Baylor University star Brittney Griner , Delaware's Elena Delle Donne , and Notre Dame All American Skylar Diggins (now Diggins-Smith) as

12810-529: The six teams in the East were in first place at some point during the season. The East held a .681 winning percentage over the West , its highest ever. In the 2010 Finals , two new teams represented each conference: the Seattle Storm and the Atlanta Dream . Seattle made their first finals appearance since winning it all in 2004 , and Atlanta, coming into the playoffs as a four seed, impressively swept its opponents in

12932-466: The support and appreciation of female athletes in professional sports. Female athletes struggle to obtain the same degree of visibility and sponsorship opportunities as male athletes, whose accomplishments frequently dominate mainstream sports coverage. According to Cheryl Cooky's TEDx talk, a professor in American studies, gender, and sexuality at Purdue University, the marginalization of female athletes in mainstream sports media and sponsorship opportunities

13054-639: The top team in the Cup standings from each conference advancing to a one-off Cup final in August. The 2020 WNBA schedule originally included a month-long break in July and August to allow players to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics . The 2020 games were postponed until 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic , rendering the break unnecessary. On April 3, 2020, the WNBA announced that the beginning of its own schedule would be postponed. The 2020 entry draft took place as originally scheduled on April 17, although it

13176-443: The top three picks. The draft was the first to be televised in primetime on ESPN . Griner, Delle Donne, and Diggins were thus labeled "The Three To See." With the draft came other standouts such as Tayler Hill , Layshia Clarendon and Alex Bentley . The retirement of legends Katie Smith , Tina Thompson , Ticha Penicheiro , and Sheryl Swoopes coupled with the arrival of highly touted rookies and new rule changes effectively marked

13298-545: The winners of each division. Baseball became popular in the 1920s, when Babe Ruth led the New York Yankees to several World Series titles and became a national hero on the strength of his home runs (balls that cannot be played because they have been hit out of the field). One of the most noteworthy players was the Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson , who became the first African-American player in

13420-442: Was Serena Williams with a $ 29.2 million annual income; the highest-paid male player was Lionel Messi with a $ 127 million annual income. In association football, the average wage for women worldwide is $ 35,000, while for men it is $ 410,730. Attendances in women's leagues also tend to be lower than in men's, and there are fewer corporate sponsors, as well as less money from broadcasting rights. Widespread gender discrepancies hamper

13542-413: Was Zlatan Ibrahimović of A.C. Milan who received a salary of €25.9 million after income tax and which also includes Ibrahimović's bonuses and endorsements . Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona is the world's second highest-paid player receiving a salary of £29.6 million (over US$ 45 million) a year after income taxation and which also includes the incomes of Messi's bonuses and endorsements . In

13664-899: Was $ 3,440,000, the median salary was $ 1,075,000, and the minimum salary had grown to four times the inflation-adjusted average salary in 1970 ($ 480,000). In the Indian Premier League in 2019, players earn an average of $ 101,444, and a median salary of $ 72,450, per week. The top-paid players in international cricket in 2017 across the (at the time) 10 Test cricket nations earned anywhere from $ 90,000 to $ 1,470,000 (when looking only at contract and match fees). Houston Comets The Comets were known for courting great women's basketball stars. The team had among its members Cynthia Cooper (the WNBA's first MVP ); college and national team standout Sheryl Swoopes ; Kim Perrot , who succumbed to cancer in 1999; and college stars Michelle Snow and Tina Thompson . The Comets were one of

13786-459: Was done remotely. No details of the revised schedule were announced as of the time of the draft, and the Commissioner's Cup was ultimately not held in 2020. In June 2020, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced plans for the league to have a 22-game regular season, and a traditional playoff format, to be held exclusively at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida . The players were housed at

13908-617: Was established in 1933, a draft was established in 1936, and schedules were standardized in the 1930s. A competing league has historically arisen to attempt to challenge the NFL's dominance every 10 to 15 years, but none managed to maintain long-term operations independent of the NFL and only two—the All-America Football Conference of the late 1940s and the American Football League of the 1960s—were strong enough to successfully compete against

14030-587: Was first professionalized in Pittsburgh , U.S. in the first decade of the 20th century. Because Canadians made up the vast majority of hockey players, early American professional leagues imported almost all of their players before Canadian leagues began to form in the wake of a mining boom, depriving the U.S. leagues and teams of talented players. Two distinct circuits formed: the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in western Canada and

14152-522: Was held on January 8, 2007. Teams selected in inverse order of their 2006 records with Chicago receiving the first pick. Former Los Angeles Lakers championship coach, Paul Westhead , was named head coach of the Phoenix Mercury on October 11, 2005, bringing his up-tempo style of play to the WNBA. This fast-paced offense was perfect for his team, especially after the league shortened the shot clock from 30 seconds to 24 seconds in 2006. Much like

14274-417: Was instituted, each team had one "Designated Player" slot with a salary cap charge of $ 400,000, but no limit on actual salary paid. Since then, the number of Designated Players per team has increased to three, with each counting for $ 530,000 of cap room in 2019. The league's average salary was about $ 283,000 per year in 2015, but the median salary was then closer to $ 110,000. MLS' minimum player salary in 2019

14396-415: Was maintained. All Cup games within each conference were played before the league took its Olympic break after July 11. The Cup final, officially termed the Commissioner's Cup Championship Game, involves the conference leaders in the Cup standings; its first edition was held on August 12 as the league's first game after the Olympic break, and was streamed via Amazon Prime Video . A prize pool of $ 500,000

14518-400: Was strictly an amateur sport throughout the 19th and most of the 20th century. In 1995, the game's international administrators allowed professionals to participate for the first time. The related sport of rugby league evolved directly out of rugby union's opposition to player payments; it has allowed professionalism in its game since its inception in 1895. Professional athleticism has been

14640-459: Was the $ 14 million paid to former Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimović , who played for the LA Galaxy in that season. Ibrahimović was signed to his 2019 contract under MLS' Designated Player Rule , which was instituted in 2007 for the express purpose of attracting international stars. Now-retired English star David Beckham was the first player signed under its provisions. When the rule

14762-611: Was the last playoff appearance for the Houston Comets. After the Comets' season ended in 2006, the team went through a major front-office changes during the off-season. In October 2006, team owner Leslie Alexander – who also owned the Houston Rockets -- announced he was selling the Comets, and longtime head coach Van Chancellor resigned in January 2007. On January 31, 2007, the WNBA Board of Governors approved

14884-483: Was the original owner of the new team. Citizens of Atlanta were voted for their choice of the new team's nickname and colors. The Dream , as they were named, played their first regular-season game on May 17, losing to the Connecticut Sun 67–100. Paul Westhead resigned from the Mercury after capturing the 2007 title and Penny Taylor opted to stay home to prepare for the 2008 Summer Olympics , causing

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