Mercury inching toward profitability with budget cuts, sponsorship deal - Phoenix Business Journal:

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The franchise has eliminated one week of preseasonb training and cut its training camp and seasonrosters –– movea encouraged by the Women’s Nationa l Basketball Association. Under the league’as bargaining agreement with the players’ association, each franchis must cover housing andtransportation expenses, whichg typically include a vehicle, for everty player under contract during the five-month Trimming the preseason rostef from 18 to 15 and the regular-season squad from 13 to 11 “add up to a pretty significan t savings,” said Mercury CEO and President Jay “The ancillary costs of players really add up.
” The has strugglec to find its place within the niche professional sports segment, but attendance has grown steadily sinced its inception in 1997. The Mercury averagedf about 8,000 fans per game in 2008, about 2,000 short of theit goal, Parry said. WNBA Commissioner Donna Orender would not tell the Phoenixx Business Journal whether the leagueis Regardless, each franchise is exploring alternative revenue streams in an unfriendly economixc climate.
For example, the Mercury inked a multi­million-dollar deal June 1 with Tempe-basedf In what is believed to be the most lucrative sponsorshio agreement inthe league, the identity thefg services company will have its name plasteredx across the front of the players’ jerseys. Teams also will get financiakl assistance this year from anew revenue-sharingg agreement, which will help shore up balancd sheets, but will not cure In the first year of an eight-yeae deal, each team will receive fees paid by league broadcasyt partner ESPN.
The team turned a profit in its first few years inthe league, but hasn’t been in the black for “a long period,” said Rick CEO of the , whichg own the Mercury.