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WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION MEDIA CONFERENCEJuly 27, 2013Laurel RichieTHE MODERATOR: Welcome, everyone, to Boost Mobile WNBA All‑Star 2013, and welcome to our press conference. We will begin with remarks from Laurel Richie. When Laurel has concluded we will begin with question and answer. Please raise your hand and you will be called upon and a microphone will be brought to you. Please begin with your name and affiliation. Laurel? LAUREL RICHIE: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Connecticut. I would like to begin by thanking the Mohegan tribe, Mitchell Etess, Chris Sienko for hosting All‑Star. This is their third time hosting All‑Star, so coming back here we knew we were going to have a great experience here. Also want to give a special thanks to Boost Mobile, our presenting partner. I understand we're going to have a full house tonight, so we're really excited about that. I think the fans are going to have a great All‑Star experience. Speaking of fans, I'd really like to commend the fans for doing such a terrific job selecting this year's All‑Star team. I think it is very reflective of the 17th season of the WNBA. We have a wonderful mix of rookies and first‑timers but also many of our veterans coming back. I think it's worth noting that Tina Thompson will be making her ninth All‑Star appearance, and that will be and is the record in the WNBA, so we're thrilled to have her here with us today. The other sort of fact of note is that we will have two coaches, two female coaches this year for the first time in the history of the WNBA, and as the longest running women's professional sports league in the country, I think that's a nice addition to our stats. This is shaping up to be an incredible season for us. We just got word that our attendance is up 2.3 percent. Still have a good chunk of the season ahead of us, but we're thrilled that attendance is up. Viewership, both on ESPN 2 and NBA TV, both are up in double digits. Literally every single measure that we measure on our web traffic is also up, I think in large part because we've put a real emphasis this year on not just covering all the facts and the stats but really covering the stories and doing some really terrific video features that have brought lots of our fans to our website. In terms of partnership, I know you all know that in our off‑season ESPN announced an extension of our partnership through 2022, so that has been a great piece of success for the league. State Farm has also joined us this year, and we announced early last week that Proctor & Gamble has come back on board as a partner working on their Imagine a Future with their My Black is Beautiful brand. So we are thrilled to be back in partnership with them. I think we're seeing some great play all across the league. Chicago is just having a terrific season, and if things stay on pace, they will make their first postseason performance, which is really exciting for that franchise. Tulsa is another franchise that I never, ever count out. They have gone to overtime four times. They have beaten Atlanta and Chicago, and I think that is a franchise that is currently in development and poised to do great things. We've also seen the powerhouses of LA and Minny on some pretty good winning streaks, as well. Between the response of our fans to this season, the broadening of partnerships, the welcoming of new partners and the welcoming of return of partners, we're really excited. But today is all about All‑Star. I had the pleasure of having breakfast with the players this morning, and I think the energy is up and good, and I think we're going to have a fun afternoon. Happy to take any questions you've got, and very excited, again, to be back at the Mohegan Sun for WNBA All‑Star. Q. All the numbers you just touted are obviously really, really good, and a big part of it is the three rookies. How sad is it that Griner and Delle Donne who are both voted starters, first‑time rookies, paired from the same class starting in an All‑Star Game aren't able to play because of injury, and also three other All‑Stars, Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson and Becky Hammon can't play because of injury. LAUREL RICHIE: So first and foremost, I'd like to say to Brittney and to Elena, I wish them both well. I've spoken to both, and I wish them both well and a speedy recovery, and we are always first and foremost focused on the health of our players, and one of the realities is that injuries happen, and our job is to make sure that they take the time to heal. I am still very, very excited about the rosters that are playing this game today because I think we're in for a real treat. Q. Can you elaborate a little bit about the P&G initiative that you just forged? LAUREL RICHIE: So the question was could I elaborate on P&G, and absolutely. As I said, they have come back. We are partnering with them on their Imagine a Future initiative, which is really designed to build self‑esteem in young girls, and they have come to us knowing that we have 132 terrific role models, each with her own story of building and coming into her own in terms of self‑esteem. So we will be partnering with them in six markets this year. I think it's a terrific program that fits very much underneath our desire to provide sources of inspiration and our inspiring women platform, so this is a terrific partnership that we're really excited about. Q. When you guys have your blueprints for growth for this league, I'm not sure what increments they are, but could you tell us a little bit about what your vision is about where this league is going to be in five years in two specific categories: One, the expansion of the league beyond 12 teams, what you see in five years; and secondly, do you think the league, the owners are going to be in position to compensate these players a little bit more generously? I think WNBA is the only league where the coaches make more money than the players. What do you see in those two areas? LAUREL RICHIE: So in terms of‑‑ in many ways we are no different than any other sports entity in that our goal is to bring more and more fans into our arenas to experience the level of play and the entertainment of being at a WNBA game, so we look at our attendance figures which are heading in the right direction. We look at our sponsor and partner numbers, and those are heading in the direction. So we just want to continue on that trajectory. In terms of expansion, my focus right now is on the 12 teams that we have and making sure that they are as strong as they can possibly be. I hear a lot from fans this season about how exciting it is because all 12 teams have really interesting stories and are doing really interesting things on the court. Expansion, I would say that it is in the future, but I have not put a date and I haven't put a number on it. With respect to player salaries, as all of you know, this is the year that we will go back into partnership with the union to come up with our next agreement, so I'm going to leave all questions relating to the collective bargaining to that process.  I'm excited about the process. I look forward to partnering with players and with the union to come out on the other side with an agreement that bodes well for the long‑term health of the league. Q. Can you talk about Mike Thibault becoming the all‑time winningest head coach in WNBA history and what that means to the league and our All‑Stars Crystal Langhorne and Ivory Latta? LAUREL RICHIE: We have wonderful stories this year with coaching. As you mentioned, for Coach Thibault to become the winningest coach in WNBA history, any time you have somebody who reaches a pinnacle, that's a great thing. We're thrilled to have Bill Laimbeer back in the league and bringing his sort of win‑at‑all‑costs attitude. I think this year I look out and see that the depth and breadth of our coaching is equal to the depth and breadth of our players, so I think that's part of the reason that this 17th season is so exciting and so successful. Q. Do you think we'll see the All‑Star Game possibly go to Indiana? LAUREL RICHIE: The nice thing is every city that I visit asks if the All‑Star Game is coming, so I love that All‑Star is in high demand. We have a process that we put in place. We are about to start the discussions about next year's All‑Star, so stay tuned. Q. I'm glad to say that I think the WNBA has grown probably faster than the NBA in terms of overall history, and even though it's beginning to expand into further outlets, I still have a question about live access. The price has gone up, and some of the people have called in and said that when they do access a particular game, it seems to be blacked out or they have some kind of technical problems around accessing other games. Could you talk about that, please? LAUREL RICHIE: Sure, so live access is a product that we are incredibly proud of, and I could have shared with you at the beginning that our subscriptions, the number of subscribers has increased this year, as well. That said, it is not a perfect system. There are sometimes kinks in that system, and we work very hard to get to perfection in terms of the delivery, and there are certain occasions where games are blocked out. But the good news is all of the games are eventually archived so that if you miss the game live, you will still have access to the game if you are a subscriber. Q. What do you think is the biggest need of the league at this point and this year at you look as it as the CEO, the president running the business? What is the biggest need for this league? LAUREL RICHIE: You know, I come to games, as you would expect, a lot of games, and I am never disappointed in the level of play. I just think we have a fabulous product on the floor, and our No.1 goal is to bring more fans in touch with what we know is a terrific product. And from there, lots of good things happen, so we focus an awful lot on attention, and anytime I have an opportunity to sit with the media, I will also say the more coverage and the more we can tell our story and have you help us tell our story of the game, of the players, of the coaches, that just helps get the word out because it's a terrific product. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. Laurel, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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