MPR’s Matt Sepic reports on the Minnesota Lynx headed to Game One of the WNBA Finals. It's the Lynx's first trip to the women's professional basketball championship.
The Lynx has had its ups and downs as an organization over the last decade - both on the hardwood and financially. While the team is expecting its largest crowd ever at the Target Center this weekend, the team and its league are still struggling to find their place in the world of pro sports.
MATT SEPIC: By all accounts, it's been a banner year for the Minnesota Lynx. The team went 27 and 7 in the regular season. Point guard, Lindsay Whalen, led the league in assists, and forward, Maya Moore, was named WNBA Rookie of the Year. Then last Sunday, the Lynx rose even higher, beating the Phoenix Mercury to clinch a spot in the finals.
SPEAKER: For the first time, the Minnesota Lynx are in the WNBA finals, and they do it in convincing fashion, beating Phoenix--
MATT SEPIC: Minnesota's other pro sports teams all had losing seasons, but the Lynx are enjoying newfound attention. Players who labored in near obscurity have become celebrities. Forward, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, is in her 13th season with the WNBA, and says only now is she stopped on the street by excited fans.
TAJ JCWILLIAMS-FRANKLIN: This is my first WNBA city, where I've had those kind of rabid, crazy fans. And I mean, I'm so excited for this game, for them to come out. And it's going to be packed and loud and exciting. And it's what the WNBA Finals is supposed to be.
MATT SEPIC: Paying spectators will fill many of the seats at the Target Center this Sunday, but 1,000 fans will be the guests of new Minnesota Timberwolves coach, Rick Adelman. The Lynx and Timberwolves are both owned by Glen Taylor, and Adelman, along with the Timberwolves executive, bought up 1/10 of the arena's capacity and are giving away the tickets. Another 1,000 tickets will go to charities. Free tickets are common for the Lynx.
In a gesture of support, the Twins, Vikings, and Wild also help the team fill seats for earlier games. Nevertheless, the Lynx' success on the basketball court is translating into more black ink on the balance sheets, while the team doesn't make details of its finances public. Attendance figures are at a 12-year high. In the tiny, windowless front office in the basement of the Target Center, Lynx chief operating officer, Conrad Smith, says 2011 could be the first profitable season in a decade.
CONRAD SMITH: The first couple of years, we were profitable. And then we got away from it. But this year and obviously the playoffs and how that all shakes out, we'll know at the very end how we did, which is great news for the league and certainly, Glenn Taylor, and our ownership group.
MATT SEPIC: Also helping the Lynx and the WNBA as a whole is a reported eight-figure sponsorship deal with cell phone company, Boost Mobile. The Boost logo appears on most WNBA team uniforms, something unheard of outside NASCAR. However, Smith says long-term financial success will depend on attracting more fans like Karen Sylte. Season ticket holder, Sylte, will be in her fifth row seat Sunday night. She says she loves women's basketball because of its collaborative, non-ego-driven style of play.
KAREN SYLTE: Its team ball. Its unselfish. A lot of NBA teams are all about one-on-one basketball. You don't see that very often in the WNBA, where a player will go one on one against another player.
MATT SEPIC: But there aren't yet enough aficionado's for the Lynx and the WNBA to thrive. Economist, Andrew Zimbalist, says the league needs a much deeper bench of fans. He studies the business of sports at Smith College and says the WNBA has survived for 15 seasons only because of subsidies from co-owned NBA teams. But he says the league has the potential to make it on its own.
ANDREW ZIMBALIST: It's a niche sport now. It will probably be a niche sport for quite a number of years going into the future, even if it's well managed. But does it have a potential to be something more than a niche sport? I think, yes, it does.
MATT SEPIC: Zimbalist says professional tennis has proven there's wide interest in women's sports. And with the popularity of girls athletics, there's a natural fan base. But Zimbalist says team owners have yet to find a way to capitalize on this potential and bring the Women's League out from its parent's shadow. Matt Sepic, Minnesota Public Radio News.
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