The New York Liberty show investment in women’s sports is simply good business

FFrom the early days of the Women’s National Basketball Association, it seemed like winning a championship was only a matter of time for the New York Liberty. A glamor franchise by default, them first reaches the threshold of a title during the league’s inaugural season in 1997, when it fell to the Houston Comets in a championship game that was wiped from the headlines within hours by the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. That was the first of five times New York stumbled at the final hurdle, including last season’s crushing loss to the Las Vegas Aces on their home floor. As the years turned into decades, Liberty’s brand, like their old co-tenants at Madison Square Garden, fell short, despite a parade of big-name stars like Rebecca Lobo, Teresa Weatherspoon, Becky Hammon, Cappie Pondexter and Tina Charles.

That’s one way of saying Sunday night’s cathartic triumph, when New York finally captured the sport’s biggest prize with a heartbreaking win over the Minnesota Lynx and became the last of the WNBA’s Original Eight franchises to win a title , was a long time. time comes. But as confetti rained down the Barclays Center as Ellie the Elephant marched off to Empire State of Mind amid the roar of 18,800 spectators, it was easy to forget just how bad the Liberty were under their previous caretakers – and how extraordinary the subsequent turnaround has been .

Six years ago, when the club was still owned by a wannabe rock star indifferent to women’s basketball, the Liberty languished in what could be described as a state of hostile neglect. After James L Dolan was unable to immediately find a buyer after putting the Liberty up for sale in November 2017, the team was banished to the Westchester County Center in White Plains, about 30 miles outside of Manhattan. Suddenly, a team that, even in bad years, had consistently topped the league in home attendance, was playing their games in a ramshackle 5,000-seat venue built before the Great Depression. Predictably, the average attendance fell below 2,200, while the team finished bottom of the standings with a dismal record of 7-27.

The organization’s morale was at an all-time low when Joe and Clara Wu Tsai bought what they saw as an undervalued asset for an undisclosed amount in 2019, but things quickly changed under their ownership. Moving the team to the Barclays Center, which the Tsais took over with the purchase of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, was a no-brainer. Taking advantage of changes to the 2020 collective bargaining agreement that eased restrictions on player movement, Wu Tsai followed star free agent and serial winner Breanna Stewart onto a yacht in Turkey to make a recruiting pitch. The Liberty then signed two-time WNBA Finals MVP and All-Star point guard Courtney Vandersloot as free agents, and traded for former MVP Jonquel Jones, joining a young core led by former No. 1 draft pick Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney . That newly formed super team fell two wins short of a title in their first year before going all the way on Sunday night. More importantly, Liberty games have become a legitimate event in Brooklyn, a shift that can be seen everywhere from rising attendance, ticket revenue and corporate sponsorship to their zeitgeist-crushing viral mascotwho has more followers on social media than almost half of the roster.

“When we bought the team four years ago, they played at the Westchester County Center in front of a crowd of 2,000 people,” Wu Tsai said. said during Sunday’s trophy presentation. “And the first thing we wanted to do was bring the team to Barclays Center so they could have a bigger stage. And then we wanted to give them facilities and performance and nutrition and everything they deserved, because they are such professional athletes.

That smart ownership and strategic investments are associated with positive results isn’t exactly news, but the WNBA has provided a unique testing ground for the concept. Consider the aforementioned Aces, the two-time defending champions who were dethroned by New York in the semifinals this year. Yes, Las Vegas has basketball’s best core four: A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum. But owner Mark Davis has spared no effort to help them maximize their potential by cultivating an organizational culture that stands as the gold standard in women’s sports alongside Olympique Lyonnais Féminin.

Since purchasing the Aces nearly three years ago, the owner of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders has poached Becky Hammon from the NBA on a record $1 million contract and spent $40 million on it an ultra-modern practice space of 80,000 m² which is the first women’s-specific, unshared training facility in WNBA history. The results speak for themselves.

The same goes for the Seattle Storm, who have won two of the past seven WNBA titles and also recently opened a $60 million, 50,000-square-foot training facility, one of the first in the world designed specifically for female athletes (famously without a single urinal on site). It’s a far cry from the WNBA teams that once practiced in public recreation centers.

It’s the kind of culture building that translates into success between the lines. Look no further than Sunday night’s dramatic finale as Liberty’s two Olympic gold medalists fired blanks on offense for much of the night: Ionescu made just one of her 19 attempts from the floor, while Stewart didn’t fare much better . When it came to buying time, they were role players spark plug Nyara Sabally And German rookie Leonie Fiebich who achieved their goals and made a difference. Once and for all, the Liberty were no longer a lame collection of galácticos, but a winning team.

It was a worthy climax to a WNBA season that drew a huge television audience and unprecedented public interest, breaking records for TV ratings, merchandise sales and attendance seemingly by the week. But it was also a roadmap to success. Less than five years after the Liberty was purchased at a distress sale price, the Tsai’s recent sale of a 15% stake in BSE Global gave the Liberty a $200 million valuation. Earlier this month Wu Tsai predicted that number will exceed $1 billion within ten years. The idea of ​​women’s sports as a social cause is long gone. It’s just a good thing.