Shock Opens 2012 Season May 19 vs. San Antonio
The WNBA will tip off its 16th season on Friday, May 18, when two of the league's top stars square off as Candace Parker and the Los Angeles Sparks visit Sue Bird and the Seattle Storm. The defending WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx, led by 2011 Rookie of the Year Maya Moore and Finals MVP Seimone Augustus, begins its title defense when scoring champion Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury visit on Sunday, May 20, in a nationally televised game on ABC.
Showcasing the league’s most talented players and competitive rivalries, combined coverage of the WNBA regular season, Playoffs, and Finals on ABC, ESPN2 and NBA TV, the league’s 24-hour television network, will feature over 80 contests.
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ESPN2 will air 11 regular-season games nationally throughout the season and cap the season with an expanded number of telecasts during the WNBA Playoffs. All games will be available in high definition and telecasts on ESPN and ESPN2 will be simulcast on ESPN3.
The 2012 WNBA season marks the fourth year of the league’s eight-year deal that allows ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 to televise games through 2016. The agreement provides the WNBA a rights fee, a first in U.S. women’s professional sports league history, and will extend the league’s relationship with ESPN, which commenced in 1997, to 20 years.
NBA TV will broadcast more than 40 games throughout the regular season and provide additional post-season coverage. The network’s popular GameTime will air after select games complementing the broadcast and providing highlights of the action. The NBA TV schedule will be announced at a later date.
As the WNBA heads into its 16th regular season, it will build on the positive momentum that saw a fifth consecutive year of league-wide attendance growth, the highest ESPN2 viewership since 2005, increased viewership during the WNBA Finals, and the 2011 signing of a landmark multiyear deal with Boost Mobile as the first league-wide marquee partner.
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With as many as 20 WNBA players likely to represent their respective countries in a quest for the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London (July 27-Aug. 12), the league has not scheduled any games between July 14-Aug. 15. Similar to the 2004 and 2008 seasons that also saw a break in the schedule for the Olympics, WNBA teams and players will remain active in their local communities during the hiatus. Players not competing in the Olympics will participate in a variety of community-based events and activities designed to give fans a unique opportunity to interact with their favorite WNBA teams.
Following the 2012 Summer Olympics, in which the United States will look to earn its fifth consecutive gold medal in women’s basketball, the WNBA will tip off the second half of its season on Thursday, Aug. 16. The regular season schedule concludes on Saturday, Sept. 23, with the Playoffs scheduled to begin on Thursday, Sept. 27.
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