With sports slowly, but surely (but safely?) returning to our television screens and states gradually opening back up for business, the evidence is becoming increasingly clear that a 2020 WNBA season is in the cards.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said in multiple interviews that the league is considering multiple scenarios for a return to play this season. It appears as if the two most likely scenarios (which should not be much of a shock) are returning to play in either Las Vegas at MGM Resorts or in Florida at the IMG Academy, according to Doug Feinberg at the Associated Press.
The season was to tip off on May 15 but, of course, was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Las Vegas has been considered a likely site because of the presence of one WNBA team already there – the Aces. Also, MGM has offered to use its space to house sports leagues in a quarantined “bubble.” Florida is a possibility because the NBA’s Board of Governors recently approved a plan for 22 of its teams to resume the season at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
The report hinted that if the league were to locate itself in Vegas for the 2020 season, Mandalay Bay – the home of the Aces – likely would not host games.
ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel has since reported the WNBA is considering a 22-game regular season at the IMG Academy. The plan would still need to be approved by the WNBPA.
