Sports
WNBA expansion: Investors wanted to bring team to Austin – Austin Business Journal
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Almost 30 years ago, as many as 10,000 fans would flood the Frank Erwin Center on the University of Texas campus to cheer on the Longhorns women’s basketball team as it went undefeated en route to its first and only national championship.
For Fran Harris, a senior captain on the 1985-1986 team, that memory is proof that women’s professional basketball can work in Austin as she leads an effort to bring a Women’s National Basketball Association team to Bat City.
“It tells you about Austin then and it tells you about the heritage of women’s basketball in this city,” Harris, who lives in Austin, said Aug. 11.
The WNBA is continuing its focus on expansion, and Austin is among the named finalists. While Harris’ efforts are still in the early stages, she has spent the last few months sharing updates through the website wnbaaustin.com, while conducting dozens of meetings over the last few months with influential people in government, real estate, film production, the NBA and the WNBA, among others.
One message she’s selling to potential investors and stakeholders is that now is the right time for the league to grow — media and fan interest in women’s basketball is at an all-time high, investors are financially supporting the league and the games are widely available to watch on television. Austin’s history of supporting women’s athletics and women in general, like former Texas Senator Barbara Jordan and former Governor Ann Richards, make it the perfect fit. Plus it’s an opportunity to support a league that props up minority women.
“I think we still have a lot to prove at this point. But I think this is a community that’s always embraced women’s basketball. It’s always loved success stories,” Harris said. “So, ‘Let’s go Austin.’ That’s how I see it.”
As Harris has worked behind the scenes, the WNBA — the longest-running women’s professional league in the United States — has publicly committed to growth. A spokesperson for the league did not respond to a request for comment, but Commissioner Cathy Engelbert earlier this month said its leaders are still focused on expansion and have been aiming to have at least a couple of new cities by the 2025 season, according to an Aug. 7 article from Front Office Sports.
“Obviously, we’re working very hard on expansion,” Engelbert was quoted as telling reporters on Aug. 6. “This is really something I think we need to do, not just because of opening up potentially 12 to 24 roster spots, but also with a league that’s the longest-tenured women’s professional league in the country by double any other, we need more than 12 teams.”
Austin was one of the cities Engelbert previously mentioned as an expansion finalist, along with markets that have long been viewed as frontrunners — the San Francisco Bay Area, Toronto and Portland — and other fast-growing cities like Denver and Nashville.
With some of those cities farther along in the process, and a decision on a first round of expansion potentially imminent, Harris acknowledged that “Austin is not going to be in that first round.”
“If they’re going to announce that in 30 to 90 days, or whatever it’s going to be, they’ve been working on that for a couple of years. So we’re at the beginning of our track down the path of getting awarded a franchise,” she said. “But the great thing is that everything is going really fast. Since they announced, I’ve been really busy for the last 90 days and everybody in Austin is so excited about it.”
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, who is pictured on the website holding up a T-shirt that says, “W in ATX,” is among the local leaders Harris has met with. Rebecca Szeto, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said in an Aug. 10 email he had an introductory meeting with Harris and others in June. The discussion was described as preliminary and revolved around the “impact a professional women’s basketball team would bring to the city,” she said in an email.
“This would be a really neat opportunity for our city,” Watson said in a statement.
Williamson County Judge Gravell declined to answer whether he and his team have met with Harris, citing a policy of not comment on economic development projects.
“However, I’m a huge of fan of sports and I love the fact we play hockey in our county and play baseball in our county. And if something like this would come to Williamson County, wouldn’t it be amazing?” Gravell said.
The possibility was also celebrated by Drew Hays, director of the Austin Sports Commission, who said the “prospect of the WNBA bringing a team to Austin is exciting.”
“Judging by the recent World Cup TV ratings, there’s an appetite for women’s sports in our city. Just like Austin FC and the Austin Gamblers, the Austin Sports Commission will be there to support any sports organizations that help elevate the sports profile of our city and we look forward to the opportunity should it arise,” Hays said in an Aug. 11 statement.
If the WNBA is to expand, now would be the time to do it. Over its first two decades, the league struggled to gain traction from a revenue standpoint and tied ownership to NBA franchises. It’s currently operating as a 12-team league, down from a peak of 16 teams, and has cycled through 18 different franchises. But the league is projected to bring in between $180 million and $200 million in revenue this year, according to Bloomberg.
Interest in women’s sports is climbing. The NCAA women’s basketball championship in April attracted 9.9 million viewers and many say name, image and likeness deals are bridging the revenue gap between male and female student-athletes. The National Women’s Soccer League is setting attendance records and has its championship game on prime-time network television — and is expanding at a rapid pace. And the women’s World Cup is currently ongoing and has been scoring high in the television ratings.
The WNBA is trying to build on that momentum. For the first time since 1999, games this season are airing in prime time on ABC. Plus, a recent independent outside valuation of the Seattle Storm determined the franchise is worth $151 million, the highest in league history.
Harris, who played in the WNBA and won its inaugural championship with the Houston Comets, has stayed involved with the league since her retirement, whether its broadcasting games on ESPN or participating in a committee to advise the league on its future. She said she’s always been interested in ownership, and that when expansion started popping up during back-door league conversations in 2021, it was the right time to get involved.
“It’s been on my mind for 20 years but really got ignited when the pandemic started because we started to approach the 25th season of the WNBA,” she said.
The league has been targeting cash infusions wherever they can. Last year a diverse group of owners infused $75 million into the WNBA to help grow the league; the list included former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former WNBA player Swin Cash. Plus, future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady is among several of the league’s celebrity part-owners, with the Las Vegas Aces.
Another influx of cash could come through the next media rights contracts. Currently, The Walt Disney Co. (ESPN) pays $25 million annually for WNBA games, accounting for about two-thirds of media rights revenue in an agreement that runs through 2025, according to the Sports Business Journal. Other media partners include ION, CBS, CBS Sports Network and Paramount+. League-owned NBA TV also airs games. For comparison, Disney pays $1.4 billion annually for NBA games.
One open question is how much the expansion fee would be for a new team. Englebert has said that they’ll look at the Storm’s valuation, as well as expansion fees in other women’s leagues like the NWSL to get some more data points. That league’s two newest teams in Boston and the Bay Area reportedly paid $50 million each in expansion fees.
Harris noted in her newsletter that her group is looking for an “owner or ownership group that’s near or in the ‘Billion Dollar Circle,'” estimating that while the cost of a new WNBA franchise is not yet known, indications point toward a range of $30 million to $50 million, along with potentially another $40 million to $50 million for facilities.
She told the Austin Business Journal the financial conversation has been at the forefront of her discussions. While she declined to say who’s she’s met with, she joked that, “If there’s money out there, I’ve probably talked to people about it.”
“You couldn’t do this 30 years ago. … But now you look at soccer, you look at football, you look at basketball, the media quotient has really elevated the product, which means that it’s more valuable to potential investors and buyers and partners and sponsors,” she said.
There are at least two obvious candidates: Michael Dell, the billionaire chairman and CEO of Round Rock-based Dell Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL), and his wife Susan Dell. They were among those that invested in the WNBA during their recent funding round. Plus, they have a minority stake in the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
A representative for the Dells has previously declined to comment about whether they’re involved in bringing a WNBA team to Austin, but referred to a statement issued when the league’s capital infusion became public last year.
“Susan and I are excited about the growth opportunity in women’s sports and specifically the WNBA,” Michael Dell said at the time. “We also are proud to support a league that is committed to empowerment, and we look forward to supporting Cathy and all the accomplished and diverse women of the WNBA to make a positive impact in the world.”
There’s also the question of where a team would play. Harris said “where you call home is important,” and as the league starts to mature, it has stricter requirements about facilities and home arenas. She said her team is evaluating whether building a facility from scratch or occupying an existing facility would make the most sense.
“If we could find a place that checks all the boxes in terms of what the WNBA mandates and it’s already built, rather than looking at four or five years out from a team, you’re maybe looking at two or three years out,” she said. “It’s an athlete-first decision.”
The two premier sports arenas in Central Texas are the Moody Center in Austin and the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The general managers of both confirmed to ABJ this week that they have had no communication with representatives regarding using their venues.
“There are no future plans to host a WNBA team or any permanent professional sports tenants at Moody Center,” General Manager Jeff Nickler said in an Aug. 10 email.
While Austin is farther down the list than other expansion candidates, it would mark an interesting way for the city to continue to entrench itself into the professional sports market.
With boisterous attendance, a long season ticket waitlist and a top regular-season finish last year, Austin FC has been a major success story in its first two-plus seasons in Major League Soccer. Other cities, like Las Vegas, have used the WNBA to break into the top revenue-producing leagues; the Aces relocated from San Antonio in 2018 and won last year’s WNBA championship. Las Vegas previously only had the Golden Knights of the National Hockey League, which came one year prior to the Aces, but later added the Raiders of the NFL and could soon become home to the Oakland Athletics of the MLB.
Austin’s professional sports scene includes the Spurs’ G-League team, the Austin Spurs, and the Dallas Stars’ American Hockey League team, the Texas Stars — both teams play in Cedar Park. Others include the Round Rock Express, the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, and a recent addition, the Austin Gamblers of the Professional Bull Riding Team Series, a team in which Michael Dell is also an investor.
Could the WNBA be next?
Harris said “Austin would not be on the short list of cities if the W didn’t think it was a great fit.” But there’s still a long way to go.
“I think the Celine Dion [song] goes ‘Miles to go before we sleep.’ So there’s a long way to go before Austin is actually awarded a franchise,” she said.
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