Perhaps it's fitting that Richie will hand out her first WNBA championship trophy to a first-time winner, the Minnesota Lynx or Atlanta Dream, who enter Game 2 of the WNBA Finals today in Minneapolis with the Lynx ahead after an 88-74 win Sunday.
Richie, 52, who most recently spent three years as chief marketing officer for the Girl Scouts, changed the landscape of professional sports April 21 when she became the first African American woman named president of a U.S. professional sports league.
Richie's hiring also changed the course of the WNBA. Unlike predecessors Donna Orender and Val Ackerman, Richie came to the league without a background in basketball or sports. What she did bring was more than 25 years of marketing and advertising experience, which should be a huge asset as the league moves into its next era.
The WNBA recruited Richie, who was aware of the league and had attended a few games but wasn't a diehard fan. But after hearing the WNBA's pitch, she realized that the job combined everything that was important to her.
Last month, Richie announced a marquee multiyear marketing partnership with cellular company Boost Mobile, for what Sports Business Journal reported as an eight-figure total. Boost is presenting the 2011 Finals and has its logo on the jerseys of 10 of the 12 WNBA teams. (The Phoenix Mercury and San Antonio Silver Stars were committed to deals with other cellular providers.)
Average WNBA attendance this season was 7,948, a 1.25% increase from a year ago, with the Chicago Sky (29.0%), Washington Mystics (11.7%) and Lynx (10.8%) seeing the biggest surges. Ratings on ESPN2 were the highest since 2005, with an average of 270,000 viewers, up 5% from last season.
Former WNBA coach and ESPN analyst Carolyn Peck says Richie is the right choice at this stage of the league's development.
Richie understands she has much to learn about basketball and the nuances of the WNBA. She is also not blind to the news media critics of the league who, after 15 years, are still expecting the WNBA to fold at any moment.- http://www.usatoday.com/
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