[外電] WNBA eyes Atlanta franchise
WNBA eyes Atlanta franchise
By TIM TUCKER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/07/06
The women's professional basketball league, the WNBA, has told
Hawks-Thrashers owner Atlanta Spirit that there is interest in
bringing a team to the city.
"The WNBA has indicated to us that they have potential investors
[interested in putting a team here]," Atlanta Spirit president
and CEO Bernie Mullin said. "The league approached us to provide
lease terms [under which a team could play in Philips Arena,
which is operated by the Atlanta Spirit]. We have provided that."
The WNBA is a 10-year-old league with 14 teams, all but one of
them in NBA cities. The WNBA, which is backed by the NBA, has
expressed interest in growing to 16 teams. It also is possible
that a team could be relocated from another city.
Mullin expects the WNBA to pass along his proposed arena lease
terms to its potential investors, but he said he doesn't know
who those investors are.
"We anticipate in the very near future we'll talk to those
folks," he said. "It's all very preliminary."
Atlanta public relations executive Bob Hope, a member of the
executive committee of the Women's Sports Foundation, said he
has spoken with the WNBA about his interest in having a team in
Atlanta. Hope said he is attempting to "facilitate" assembly of
an ownership group, although his group might not be the investors
the WNBA was referring to in its discussions with Mullin.
"As an organization, we have a passion for women's sports, and we
know how to promote sports," said Hope, president of Atlanta-based
PR and event marketing firm Hope-Beckham. "So I think if we did
it, we'd do it right, with flair.
"And you need to be in it for the right reason, which is to create
opportunities for women in sports. ... My goal is to get a viable
team here in Atlanta."
Hope, a former Braves and Hawks executive who owned a women's pro
baseball team, the Colorado Silver Bullets, in the 1990s, said he
has spoken with a potential primary investor from out of state
and other potential investors in Atlanta.
The WNBA declined to comment on the Atlanta situation, saying it
doesn't normally comment on specific possible sites for teams.
All but three WNBA teams have ownership ties to NBA teams. But
Atlanta Spirit "would not own the team," Mullin said, if one
comes to Atlanta.
"Obviously, in the middle of our ownership conflict would not be
an appropriate time to consider adding another entity," Mullin
said. "And until we get these two franchises [Hawks and Thrashers]
where we want them to be, they are our sole focus.
"But just as with the Georgia Force [an Arena Football League
team that is owned by Arthur Blank and plays its home games in
Philips Arena], we'd welcome [a WNBA team] as a tenant in the
building and support the team in every way we could."
WNBA teams play a 34-game schedule, plus playoffs. The season
runs from late April through early September.
"From our perspective, it would be complementary to what we're
doing," Mullin said.
The WNBA announced an average attendance of about 8,000 fans per
game this year.
資料來源
http://myurl.com.tw/cl1b
這篇就當作關心籃球吧XD
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