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WNBA All-Star Game details announced

With more than 40 of the WNBA's stars in Beijing to compete in the Olympic Games last August, the WNBA's annual All-Star Game took a back seat to the U.S. team's run to its fourth straight gold medal.

"We considered that our All-Star Game last year," WNBA president Donna Orender said.

The travel won't be as bad this year.

Mohegan Sun Arena will play host to the league's All-Star Game this summer, Orender announced Tuesday. The game, scheduled for July 25 (to be aired by ABC), will mark the league's ninth All-Star event in its 13-year history.

Orender feels it's a showcase that benefits the WNBA as a whole.

"Fans really do like it," Orender said. "It's the kind of game where (the players) are a little more relaxed and you get to really see their personalities.

"Our last All-Star Game was in Washington, D.C., (in 2007) and ... we legitimately sold out 19,000-plus in Washington," she added of the Verizon Center, which seats 20,173 for basketball. "We've come upon a great formula on how to market the WNBA All-Star Game. As a matter of fact, we talked about overflow here in Connecticut (which seats 9,518)."

Pointing to the Sun's fan base - which has helped make Connecticut the league's top-seller of individual game tickets for six straight years - Orender isn't concerned the game won't sell.

"The average fans tend to tune in for an All-Star Game where they get to see a lot of the great players at one time," Sun coach Mike Thibault said. "It helps obviously the profile of the league and I think the other thing is, because our players keep getting better every year, if you had tuned into an All-Star Game eight years ago as opposed to now, the difference between athleticism, size and speed is really noticeable.

"Does that league need it? I think it needs something each year."

Economic stimulus

Orender also feels that despite the sagging economy and the recent news the league has decided to cut its 13 teams' rosters back from 13 to 11 players, the WNBA - coming off its strongest season as far as popularity - is still stable.

She pointed to the film industry, which sold 1 billion dollars worth of movie tickets in January, and that "it's a price point that approaches the WNBA."

"It can really bode well in this economy," Sun CEO Mitchell Etess said of the league.

Added Orender: "Ultimately the big vision for this business is to grow this business, and sometimes in order to do that, you have to take a little bit of step sideways. I think those are the kinds of moves we're making right now."

For a league that prides itself on its recent growth and still has intentions of expansion, the WNBA may not see the real impact of the roster cuts until after this season, Thibault said.

"You can miss out on a player that is young and can progress, and they don't get any opportunities to do that," the coach said. "I'll give you two examples: (The Sun's) Ketia Swanier and Danielle Page. If we had that roster limit last year, I don't know if they would have gotten the same opportunities (as rookies)."

Contact Matt Stout at mstout@norwichbulletin.com.