Planning to create a professional women’s basketball league began in 1994. The leaders of this effort were fighting an uphill battle, as several attempts had been made to start such a league in the preceding two to three decades.
But the time seemed to be ripe. There was substantial publicity about the U.S. national team, which would play over 20 games against collegiate teams around the country to prepare for the Olympics.
Significantly, this new effort was mission-driven. They thought women should have a league in the United States—a place to play after college without going overseas.
By 1995, the planners for this American Basketball League (ABL) included a couple of businessmen and former women Olympians. Veteran players who were playing overseas were invited to participate in discussions about the new league. They succeeded in getting one businessman to invest $3 million in the project to get started.
In 1996, while the ABL executives were scurrying around establishing the eight-team league that would begin play in the fall of 1996, the NBA held a press conference announcing that they would start a league, the WNBA, that would begin play in the summer of 1997.
Most of the WNBA’s teams would be associated with NBA franchises, be in the same city, and use the same arenas. The NBA’s move appeared to be a response to the ABL, and playing in the summer seems to suggest a primary reason for the WNBA—to have women play in the summer and not compete with the NBA for fans in the winter.
The ABL and the WNBA were rival leagues—in their existence and their regard for each other:
Fans of the ABL chided the WNBA for playing “when the boys weren’t using the gym.” They pointed to salaries the WNBA was paying ($15,000 to $50,000), compared to the ABL’s ($40,000 to $100,000 with year-round benefits). Online, ABL fans nicknamed the competing league the wNBA; to them, the Association loomed large, and the women were incidental.
Using its clout, the NBA secured television contracts for the WNBA and prevented the ABL from ever getting a television contract. The ABL got very little national publicity, and they needed exposure. The ABL executives and one of their investors went around to major networks, offering to pay millions for airtime, but none of the networks would do it because they were afraid to offend the NBA. Only CBS agreed to the deal but to air just a few games in the playoffs.
Without a major contract, the ABL folded after two seasons, thus clearing the field for wintertime fans. However, before it folded, the ABL played two seasons–in the fall and winter–and it was widely considered to be the superior league as it had the greater share of the top players. Each year, it challenged the WNBA to a playoff of their individual champions, like the old AFL v. NFL football game, which came to be known as the Super Bowl. But the WNBA refused each time.
The ABL completed its first season in 1997 with the Columbus Quest, led by the 35-year-old veteran Valerie Still. The Columbus Quest won the championship against the Richmond team, led by point guard Dawn Staley. Valerie Still was the Most Valuable Player that year and again the next year when the Columbus team won again.
