DISPERSAL DRAFT OF SACRAMENTO MONARCHS PLAYERS SET FOR DEC. 14 -- League to Focus on Adding Team in Bay Area for 2011 Season
SACRAMENTO AND NEW YORK, Dec. 8, 2009 – A Dispersal Draft involving Sacramento Monarchs players will take place Monday, Dec. 14, WNBA President Donna Orender announced today. Orender also announced the league will seek to add a team to the Bay Area for the 2011 season.
“A number of potential investors have come forward and expressed interest in relocating the Monarchs to the Bay Area, a market that we continue to see as desirable,” said Orender. “Ultimately, we made the judgment that we would not be able to complete a transaction in time for a successful new-market launch in 2010. We will therefore focus our energy on adding a team in the Bay Area for the 2011 campaign.”
Having concluded its 13th season in 2009 with a third consecutive season of increased attendance and a second straight year of increased viewership on ESPN2, the WNBA will play the 2010 season with 12 teams.
“A number of potential investors have come forward and expressed interest in relocating the Monarchs to the Bay Area, a market that we continue to see as desirable,” said Orender. “Ultimately, we made the judgment that we would not be able to complete a transaction in time for a successful new-market launch in 2010. We will therefore focus our energy on adding a team in the Bay Area for the 2011 campaign.”
Having concluded its 13th season in 2009 with a third consecutive season of increased attendance and a second straight year of increased viewership on ESPN2, the WNBA will play the 2010 season with 12 teams.
Monarchs’ season ticket holders will be notified in the near future of a procedure for refunds.
Current Monarchs players, with the exception of unrestricted free agents Kara Lawson, Hamchetou Maiga-Ba and Ticha Penicheiro, are eligible to be selected in the Dispersal Draft. The order of selection, based on the inverse order of 2009 regular season finish, will be as follows:
1) New York
2) Minnesota
3) Connecticut
4) Chicago
5) San Antonio
6) Washington
7) Tulsa
8) Los Angeles
9) Atlanta
10) Seattle
11) Indiana
12) Phoenix