ATLANTA — The WNBA season officially tips off this week and basketball fans are hyped for the new season as the league’s popularity grows.
Channel 2′s Karyn Greer sat down with the Atlanta Dream’s president ahead of the Dream’s season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday night.
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The Dream demand has hit an all-time high for the franchise. The team announced last month that they sold out their season tickets and had have record sales of single-game tickets.
“Well, we’re not new to sell outs. We actually had eight sell outs under new ownership three years ago. We had 12 sellouts last year,” said Morgan Shaw Parker. “And so this year is extra special because we’re catching this wave. It’s an incredible year. We’ve got an exciting draft class, and we’re so excited.”
Parker is not new to the sports world. Before she became president and chief operating officer for the Atlanta Dream, she worked as the chief marketing officer at Arthur M. Blank Sports and Entertainment.
She led marketing and communication for the Falcons and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Parker says the interest in women’s sports is at an all-time high.
“Welcome to the W is what we say even though we say we’ve been here. But we’re welcoming everybody in and educating them along the way. It’s a little bit of a different game. But these athletes are absolutely incredible,” Parker said.
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The Atlanta Dream is the only WNBA team in the Southeast. The team used to play at State Farm Arena, but moved to Gateway Arena in College Park.
“Yeah, we’ve been in Gateway Arena, which seats about 3,500. And we’ve been in Gateway Arena for four years now. And you know, we’re busting at the seams,” Parker said.
“What’s amazing is that we are expanding quickly. We’ve been expanding for the past three years, we knew it probably wasn’t going to be a long term home for us.
Greer and Parker couldn’t talk about women’s sports without talking about equity for the dynamic players.
“Here’s the thing about the WNBA. The league actually controls salaries. There’s a new CBA coming out in a year. And I’m really excited because the players have a big voice in terms of how that comes to fruition. So pay equity, I think is coming. It’s just taken us a little bit longer, but we’re seeing the progress. We’re seeing the growth happened before our eyes,” Parker told Greer.
You can find tickets to an upcoming Atlanta Dream game here.
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