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WNBA Leads in Sports Diversity Study

by DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer , July 24, 2009

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The league lost one of its original teams in the offseason when the Houston Comets, who won the first four championships, folded after new ownership couldn't be found.

The economy has also forced teams to reduce roster sizes and coaching staffs, but WNBA president Donna Orender has pointed to recent increases in attendance, TV ratings, jersey and merchandise sales and Web traffic as a sign the league remains healthy.

 

Orender remains the only female president of a professional sports league.

The WNBA still does not have any nonwhite majority owners, although four women have majority ownership: Carla Christofferson and Katherine Goodman own the Los Angeles Sparks, and Colleen J. Maloof and Adrienne Maloof-Nassif own the Sacramento Monarchs.

 

Sheila Johnson remains the only Black woman to hold any ownership in a WNBA team, with about 6 percent of Lincoln Holdings, the ownership group of the Washington Mystics.

 

Of the WNBA's 13 teams, six began the season with female head coaches: Lin Dunn of the Indiana Fever, Pat Coyle of the New York Liberty, Marynell Meadors of the Atlanta Dream, Jennifer Gillom of the Minnesota Lynx, Julie Plank of the Mystics and Jenny Boucek of the Monarchs. Boucek was fired this season and replaced by general manager John Whisenant.

 

Five head coaches were Black: Gillom, Michael Cooper of the Sparks, the Chicago Sky's Steven Key, Corey Gaines of the Phoenix Mercury and Rick Mahorn of the Detroit Shock.



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