Current:Home > InvestWNBA to begin full-time charter flights this season, commissioner says-LoTradeCoin
WNBA to begin full-time charter flights this season, commissioner says
View Date:2024-12-23 18:28:31
NEW YORK (AP) — The wait for full-time charter flights for WNBA teams finally is over with commissioner Cathy Engelbert announcing the league’s plans to start the program this season.
“We intend to fund a full-time charter for this season,” Engelbert said Tuesday in a meeting with sports editors.
She said the league will launch the program “as soon as we can get planes in places.”
Engelbert said the program will cost the league around $25 million per year for the next two seasons.
The WNBA already had announced at its draft last month plans to once again pay for charter flights for the entire playoffs as well as for back-to-back games during the upcoming season that require air travel.
The league’s schedule features more back-to-back sets this season with the WNBA taking a long break for the Olympics in late July and early August. The league spent $4 million on charters in 2023.
Engelbert said before the WNBA draft that the league needs to be in the right financial position to charter planes.
The WNBA is attracting more attention than ever thanks to rookies like Caitlin Clark, who helped the NCAA reach its best viewership in history for women’s basketball, with nearly 19 million fans watching the title game, along with Angel Reese who went to the Met Gala on Monday night and Cameron Brink.
Clark attracted attention walking through the airport with her new Indiana Fever teammates for a preseason game with the Dallas Wings last week. That exhibition sold out with fans lined up eager to get inside.
WNBA teams also have been moving games against Clark and Indiana to bigger arenas due to increased demand.
Flights have been an issue for the WNBA that only increased last year with the league working with Brittney Griner and the Phoenix Mercury. They had to go commercial air, and the All-Star center who had been detained in Russia for nearly 10 months was harassed by what the WNBA called a “provocateur.”
The league hadn’t allowed teams to use charter flights except for when they have back-to-back games.
Many teams had been using public charter airline JSX. Those flights were allowed by the WNBA with certain protocols in place, including that teams fly on the 30-seat planes using preset routes and times.
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Detroit-area police win appeal over liability in death of woman in custody
- California Communities Celebrate ‘Massive’ Victory as Oil Industry Drops Unpopular Referendum
- 1-in-a-million white bison calf born at Yellowstone hasn't been seen since early June, park says
- House Republicans sue Attorney General Garland over access to Biden special counsel interview audio
- Investigation into Chinese hacking reveals ‘broad and significant’ spying effort, FBI says
- 'Potentially catastrophic' Hurricane Beryl makes landfall as Cat 4: Live updates
- 'Now or never': Bruce Bochy's Texas Rangers in danger zone for World Series defense
- Six Flags and Cedar Fair are about to merge into one big company: What to know
- US wholesale inflation picks up slightly in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- North Carolina government is incentivizing hospitals to relieve patients of medical debt
Ranking
- At age 44, Rich Hill's baseball odyssey continues - now with Team USA
- Lawsuit accuses Iran, Syria and North Korea of providing support for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- After 32 years as a progressive voice for LGBTQ Jews, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum heads into retirement
- Beyoncé's influence felt at BET Awards as Shaboozey, Tanner Adell highlight country music
- Tua Tagovailoa tackle: Dolphins QB laughs off taking knee to head vs. Rams on 'MNF'
- Beyoncé's influence felt at BET Awards as Shaboozey, Tanner Adell highlight country music
- Why Olivia Culpo Didn't Want Her Wedding Dress to Exude Sex
- Here's how much Americans say they need to earn to feel financially secure
Recommendation
-
Travis Kelce's and Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Houses Burglarized
-
The Bears are letting Simone Biles' husband skip some training camp to go to Olympics
-
Maryland hikes vehicle registration fees and tobacco taxes
-
North Carolina government is incentivizing hospitals to relieve patients of medical debt
-
US inflation may have picked up in October after months of easing
-
Wildfire forces Alaska’s Denali National Park to temporarily close entrance
-
Visiting a lake this summer? What to know about dangers lurking at popular US lakes
-
Chinese woman facing charge of trying to smuggle turtles across Vermont lake to Canada