The WNBA announced Friday that it was postponing training camp and the start of its season indefinitely due to the coronavirus, which has already infected more than 1 million people worldwide.
The writing has been on the wall for weeks now as other leagues and sporting events have been postponed or canceled because of the pandemic. It seemed even more inevitable when President Donald Trump extended federal guidelines for social distancing through April 30.
Training camp was scheduled to open April 26 and the season was supposed to start May 15.
“As developments continue to emerge around the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extension of the social distancing guidelines in the United States through April 30, the WNBA will postpone the start of its training camps and tip of the regular season originally scheduled for May 15,” Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “While the league continues to use this time to conduct scenario-planning regarding new start dates and innovative formats, our guiding principle will continue to be the health and safety of the players, fans and employees.”
The WNBA will still host its draft April 17 as originally planned, though it will take place virtually. Engelbert will announce the picks on ESPN and the top selections will do interviews remotely.
The WNBA, entering its 24th season, has some wiggle room when it comes to rescheduling games, making it possible for teams to still play their full 34-game slate (depending on when the season begins). The league carved out a monthlong break from July 11 to Aug. 13 for the 2020 Tokyo Games, which has also been postponed until 2021.
The delay of the WNBA season comes at a critical time for the league, which was carrying momentum after a busy offseason.
Viewership of the regular season was up 7% across ESPN networks and ABC, according to Sports Media Watch. And that was without the draw of some of the biggest stars like Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Skylar Diggins-Smith, who missed last season but will be back this summer.
Then, the WNBA and its players union reached a groundbreaking eight-year labor deal, which set a new standard for women’s sports as the players received increased salaries and better benefits. The league also launched the “Changemakers Partnership Platform,” which provides direct support to the WNBA’s business transformation across marketing, branding and player and fan experience, Engelbert said at the time. As of now, AT&T, Deloitte and Nike are the only partners.
The new collective-bargaining agreement allowed for unprecedented movement of high-profile players, like DeWanna Bonner, Diggins-Smith and Kristi Toliver.
Engelbert said free agency “outpaced my expectations” and it was her hope that the new CBA and dizzying free agency would propel the league in a new direction.
But now when the season does begin, the WNBA will likely be competing against more established leagues like the NBA, MLB and NHL for fan attention, though some Sky players don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.
“I don’t see how it could hurt,” Gabby Williams said. “WNBA fans will still watch WNBA games because it is so niche, you know, and we do have die-hard fans. It’s already difficult to watch WNBA games, so I think the ones that do are still going to and I think it’s going to be more exposure, and anytime you have more exposure, it can’t hurt.
“If it overlaps with the NBA that would be awesome to do doubleheaders [with WNBA and NBA games] and I think if the NBA was more open to embracing us than they have in the past, it could help a lot.”
