It’s time for another episode of the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast and host Jackie Powell is talking about the WNBA’s new charter flights with Cassandra Negley of Yahoo Sports.
The two start their discussion with how the program will ideally benefit teams and players by allowing more flexibility and time to recuperate before playing on a tight turnaround.
“So charter flights, allows them to finish the game, do their media availabilities. Go straight to the airport, get on a charter plane, get home, get sleep, and you have a full day of rest and recovery,” Negley said.
After the first break, they talked why the decision was made now. Was it the Toronto expansion announcement? Concerns over player privacy and safety? Or something different entirely?
“If I’m putting myself in a commissioner chair, I see the growth,” Negley said. “Jersey sales are going up, viewership is going up. Attendance, interest, people talking about the league, the visibility of the players, which has been a huge thing for Cathy, if I see that going up, if I’m already chatting about media rights deals, which are a big part of this, she’s always said, when we get a good media rights deal that brings in a lot more money for things like charter, you’re now like, a couple years away from that you’re very close.”
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