Five WNBA teams have direct NBA counterparts and normally play in the same arena: Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, and Phoenix Mercury.
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Five WNBA teams have direct NBA counterparts and normally play in the same arena: Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, and Phoenix Mercury.
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WNBA began with eight teams: the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, and New York Liberty in the Eastern Conference; and the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, and Utah Starzz in the Western Conference.
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The first WNBA game featured the New York Liberty facing the Los Angeles Sparks in Los Angeles.
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At the start of the 1997 season, the WNBA had television deals in place with NBC, and the Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation joint venture channels, ESPN and Lifetime Television Network, respectively.
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WNBA centered its marketing campaign, dubbed "We Got Next", around stars Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie, and Sheryl Swoopes.
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The 2003 WNBA Draft was delayed, and negative publicity was gained from this strike.
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Late in 2008, the WNBA took over ownership of one of the league's original franchises, the Houston Comets.
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Much-publicized 2013 WNBA Draft produced Baylor University star Brittney Griner, Delaware's Elena Delle Donne, and Notre Dame All American Skylar Diggins as the top three picks, the draft was the first to be televised in primetime on ESPN.
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Also in January 2020, the WNBA announced a new in-season tournament, the Commissioner's Cup, which would begin with the 2020 season.
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WNBA originated with 8 teams in 1997, and through a sequence of expansions, contractions, and relocations currently consists of 12 teams.
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Six WNBA teams are associated with an NBA team from the same market and are known as sister teams.
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Three WNBA teams are in the same market as an NBA team but are not affiliated.
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WNBA's signed a seven-day contract with the Detroit Shock and played one game, tallying two assists and two turnovers in nine minutes of action.
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Recent trend with new WNBA rules has been to match them with a similar NBA rule.
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In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the WNBA led American professional sports teams in promoting the COVID-19 vaccine.
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The WNBA has been criticized for paying female players less than their NBA counterparts, although this is attributed to the much greater revenues of the NBA.
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Decision of superstar Diana Taurasi to sit out the 2015 WNBA season was seen by some in the media as a harbinger of salary-related troubles in the future.
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WNBA's hasn't had significant recovery time since before her senior season at UConn.
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For example, 55 WNBA players missed the start of training camp in 2021, meaning that most teams were unable to start practice with their full rosters.
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WNBA League Pass is available as part of the WNBA App, the free mobile application available on the iPhone, iPad and Android devices and costs US$16.
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