The History of Women National Basketball Association is much more recent than that of he men’s National Basketball team. It was founded in 1996 as the counterpart of National Basketball team it is currently composed of 12 teams. The first game started in 1997 regular season.
The Announcement:
The league announced its partnership with NBC, ESPN and Lifetime Television. They decided that it would be held its playoffs in September. They decided it to be held on September because it was less crowded and could be televised lived. It was warmly accepted by the audience most especially by women, ove 50 million people witnessed the WNBA for the first time.
Women National Basketball Association’s First:
The first woman who signed to become a player was Sheryl Swoopes. Cynthia Cooper was awarded to be the first woman MVP award. Lisa Leslie was the first WNBA player to get 3 MVP awards in one season. The first president of the league was Val Ackerman.
Uniform and Logo
the league immediately created logos and uniforms. The red, white and blue official WNBA logo was selected from over 50 different designs. After a crucial decision making they finally came up with a decision.
The team names were selected by the league and the teams were based on some of the factors including: a tie to the NBA team name in that market, a link to a key characteristic of each city or state and the creation of a name fitting the current sports landscape.
In picking the uniforms they to encounter hard time, they were able to study numerous designs. On the 21st of May 1997 the team uniforms where finally out. It is comprised of 2 short silhouettes and three jerseys.
The Ball Game
The Women National Basketball Association game consists of a 30-second clock, a 19-foot, 9-inch three-point line, two 20-minute halves and a regular size ball. The WNBA’s signature orange-and-oatmeal basketball by Spalding is 28.5 inches in circumference and is one inch smaller than the NBA’s regulation ball.
The Developments
In 2003 WNBA Players Association was under a crisis. They were threatened of a strike by the players of the league. This caused the delay in the 2003 pre-season. The delay caused a bad publicity to the Association. In 2007 the WNBA and ESPN had agreed that the league should be the first to pay the right fees (it was an 8 year agreement and it is worth million of dollars.In the 2008 regular season, outdoor basketball game happened it was held at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. The fever won the game to 71-55.
On June 1, 2009 Phoenix Mercury decided to secure a partnership with Lifelock to brand their jerseys. Lifelock was the first branded jersey of the Women National Basketball Association. After a few days Los Angeles Sparks secured partnership with Farmers Insurance for their jerseys. The Seattle Storm and New York Liberty also secure partnership with Bing and Foxwoods Casino for their jersey.
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