WNBA will pay for flights for playoffs and back
NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA will 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, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Monday.
There are 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 and will do the same this year.
“No one wants (charters) more than I do for these players. We need to be in the right financial position,” Engelbert said before the WNBA draft Monday night. “Just a few years ago we were surviving, now we’re going from survive to thrive. We want to do it at the appropriate time.”
Engelbert also said she hopes to have 16 teams in the league by 2028, up from the current 12. The WNBA is adding a team next year, when a Golden State franchise in San Francisco will join the league. Other cities or metropolitan areas that Engelbert said are in the running include Philadelphia; Toronto; Portland, Oregon; Denver; Nashville; and South Florida.