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Poppy Holzworth, a senior vice president at Salomon Smith Barney in Charlotte, is a Sting supporter who has worked closely with Carr to boost corporate support. She has identified a single person as well as a group of men and women she believes would be interested in owning the Sting. But she hasn't approached them.
"Things aren't far enough down the line," she says. "I think we have wonderful potential here in Charlotte. I think local ownership is important because you have people from the community backing you."
She thinks the WNBA is leaning toward a local ownership model, but the WNBA's Hanson says the WNBA has "no preference" at this point. "We're in the process of exploring things now," Hanson says. "When the season is over, we will look at it. We're doing due diligence this summer."
The bottom line is that fan and corporate support have to grow over the years ahead for the Sting to stay in Charlotte long-term. As more cities clamor for WNBA teams -- San Antonio could have one next year and Detroit was rumored in mid-July to be relocating there -- there will be more and more pressure on existing teams to do well or face a move. The WNBA can't expand but so much. To get a good national TV package, it has to squeeze its season into the summer, when there's little competition. When new teams are added, the schedule has to be longer.
Reaching the average male sports fan, who hardly thinks twice about spending money for most sporting events, is a key for the league and the Sting. The sports commission's Beaver is a good example of a guy who loves basketball but who thought the women's game was poor quality. He had never been to a Sting game until three seasons ago when he took the commission job. He was pleasantly surprised when he attended his first game.
"I made the comment to my wife," he says, ""This is one of the best-kept secrets in Charlotte.'"
Secret? Not really. Just for those who haven't given the Charlotte Sting a "look see."
The Charlotte Sting's three remaining regular season games are August 9 at Minnesota (8pm), August 11 at New York (4 pm, WAXN TV) and August 13 at home against the Washington Mystics (7pm).
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