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WNBA’s Air Ball
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Business New Haven
1/20/2003
By: BNH
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Whether they know it or not, both the National Basketball Association and the state of Connecticut will have egg on their faces if the WNBA (owned by the NBA) awards a new franchise to the Mohegan Sun, as it is ready to do as this edition went to press.
Everyone knows that Hartford is one of the best - if not the best - markets for women's basketball anywhere in the U.S. The ability of the UConn Lady Huskies to sell out the 15,000-seat Hartford Civic Center regularly is ample proof of that.
So, why not a WNBA team based in “New England's Rising Star” (that would be Hartford)? A group headed by LAZ Parking chairman Alan Lazowski has been pursuing a WNBA franchise for Hartford, but it appears the Mohegan tribe is willing to pay more to play. (Plus, the tribe has a new 10,000-seat arena to fill.)
The notion of professional sports franchises owned by organizations that make their money through gambling is fraught with legal and ethical perils. Earlier this month the NFL vetoed a Super Bowl advertisement from the Las Vegas Convention & Tourism Bureau because the league didn't wish to draw attention to the billions already spent (most illegally) by gamblers on its games.
Is the WNBA a major generator of gambling action today? Probably not. But siting a women's pro basketball franchise at a casino instead of in the hoops-mad state capital communicates a terrible message not only fans, but to those who might like to slow the shift in the economic gravity of the state from the capital to the casinos.
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