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Happy Birthday WNBA!

posted by Pretty Tough | Girls Who Are Fun Fierce & Feminine
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 6:28pm CDT

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Thirteen years ago this week, the Women’s National Basketball Association began its very first season.

On June 21, 1997, the inaugural season began when the Los Angles Sparks hosted the New York Liberty with 14,284 in attendance. New York defeated Los Angeles Sparks 67-57- and the game was nationally televised on NBC.

The WNBA wasn’t expected to last. Yet, here it is, 13 years after the NBA Board of Governors approved the concept, in the midst of its 13th season. Talented players such as Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, and Cynthia Cooper helped bring the merits of the WNBA to the attention of the world and they earned it enormous respect on once exclusively male-dominated courts.

The league started out with eight teams but doubled in size by the early 2000s. In 2006, it became the first team-oriented women’s professional sports league to survive ten consecutive seasons. Players and coaches credit the growing success of the league to the increasing talent pool of players that come in every year.

Like most professional women’s sports leagues, the WNBA is unable to rake in nearly as much dough as its male counterpart. According to WNBA.com, the gender breakdown of their TV audience is about 50/50 but obviously interest in the league still needs to grow. Injuries and restrictive rules have hampered this season somewhat but for those that love the game, there’s still a lot of great action on court. Be sure to tune in or attend a game!

Happy Birthday WNBA – here’s to another year!