New era basketball to launch women’s league

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NEBA President Kevin Williams announced on Tuesday that the New Era Basketball Association will be launching a women’s professional basketball league called WNEBA in the Spring of 2016.

The league will be kicking off with a pilot season where approximately 8 teams will be playing a 16 game schedule.

The WNEBA will be the only minor league professional basketball association for women. Currently, the WNBA is the only league for women looking to play professional basketball in the United States. But with limited resources and interest from the NBA corporate offices, the WNBA has began to falter. Many former players and players interested in playing professional basketball in the United States have no venue in which to compete. The Women’s New Era Basketball Association will provide that venue.

“There are a lot of high quality players who don’t have the opportunities to carry on their careers after college.” Kay Morgan, owner of the Houston Xperience said. “Players have been coming to us making inquiries. There’s only 12 WNBA teams so the roster spots there are limited”.

Morgan envisions putting teams in markets that would most thrive as hotbeds for women’s basketball. The Houston area particularly comes to mind. The Houston community consistently came out in support of the now-defunct Houston Comets, who won four WNBA championships and are widely regarded as the greatest women’s professional team of all time. A WNEBA team in that area would fill that void. Additionally, there are cities all over the country that are home to either great women’s college basketball teams or NEBA teams that could pair with a women’s franchise in order to bring great basketball to a broader audience.

WNEBA games will also air on the new NETV network with the games being made available both live and on-demand. NEBA President Kevin Williams says the league is going to see how the pilot season goes and if it is as successful as hoped, the WNEBA will launch a full scale season in 2017.

“We’ll be looking for teams all over the United States.” Williams said. “We’re looking for women who still have a love for the game and want to perform on a professional level. It will be the equivalent of the men’s NEBA”.

That last statement is the one that matters most to Morgan and to women across the country looking for a place to bring their talents. “We haven’t had to actually reach out to anyone, they’ve been coming to us.” Morgan said. “It’s just like with NEBA. We didn’t have to call one team to be part of NEBA, every team reached out to Kevin Williams".

Ms. Morgan continued... "Many former WNBA players have voiced concerns about how that league fell off and they want to follow NEBA’s model. NEBA provides not just vision and structure, but also the will to see both divisions of NEBA (men’s and women’s) succeed at an equal rate. When the initial season kicks off in April, NEBA will again be leading the field in redefining and revitalizing minor league basketball in the United States."

The mission of the NEBA League is to teach, develop, and expose basketball players to the NBA, NBDL, and International Scouts, while providing the community an exciting brand of basketball. New Era, BOP TV, 20/20 Apparel, Hoop Culture, and Ball 4 Life have all been named official sponsors for the NEBA League. A Partnership with 20/20 apparel will make the NEBA League the only minor league basketball association that will have players with their own shoes. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.

For more information please contact kmorgan@fiprm.com or officialneba.com

Dave