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Portland vying for WNBA franchise

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Posted: Saturday May 22, 1999 12:14 PM

Former ABL player Natalie Williams (24) thinks Portland fans would supprot a WNBA team. Peter J. Taylor/Allsport

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers have applied for one of four expansion franchises to be awarded by the WNBA.

The women's professional league will expand from 12 to 16 teams for its 2000 season. The WNBA, whose teams are owned by the NBA and play a 32-game schedule in NBA arenas, will begin its third season June 10.

"We are extremely interested in getting a WNBA team," said Harry Hutt, the Blazers' senior vice president of marketing. "We feel the timing is right."

The four expansion cities will be announced before June 10, according to the WNBA.

Hutt said he made a presentation this week via teleconference to the WNBA operating board. Portland is believed to be competing with Seattle, Denver, Boston, Miami, Toronto, Indiana and Golden State for one of the four franchises. Philadelphia and Atlanta recently withdrew from the process.

The Blazers are hoping the WNBA's lack of a team in the Pacific Northwest will work in their favor. WNBA spokesman Mark Pray told The Oregonian that one of the selection criteria is geography. The league has only two teams on the West Coast: the Los Angeles Sparks and the Sacramento Monarchs.

The Portland Power was a charter member of the American Basketball League, which folded last December, midway through its third season. Natalie Williams, the league's most valuable player in 1997-98 who now is with the Utah Starzz, said she thinks Portland will be selected.

"I know the cities they are thinking of, and I know Portland is one of them," Williams said. "But I think it's going to come down to Seattle or Portland, and I think Portland has a better chance than Seattle because it has better fans."

The Power was second in the league in attendance both seasons, averaging 5,476 per game in its second season. The WNBA averaged 9,669 in its first season and 10,869 last season.

The success of the team was a factor in the Blazers' decision to pursue a WNBA team, Hutt said.

"One of the things the ABL did here for us is it gave credibility for Portland as a place where women's professional basketball could be successful," Hutt said. "And that is one of the points we made to the operating board -- look at the success the Portland Power had."

 

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