The WNBA is riding high these days, eagerly awaiting the debut of college megastar Brittney Griner in her first pro game Monday.
Then it will fold in a handful of months.
At least that's the thought process of financial website 24/7 Wall St, which is picking the WNBA as one of 10 U.S. entities to disappear by next year.
It cites circumstantial evidence — NBA Commissioner David Stern, long a protectorate of the WNBA, is retiring next February — and also looks at some unfavorable trends.
The league's TV ratings continue to be minuscule and attendance averaged 7,457 per game last season, with numbers falling by more than double-digit percentages for six of the 12 WNBA teams, year to year.
Will the league remain in existence when Stern hands over power to NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver?
"(Stern) has been the all-powerful commissioner of the NBA for three decades. It is hard to imagine how the WNBA could have survived without his support, and that will soon be gone," the website said.
The WNBA isn't alone. The other nine brands predicted to disappear were: JCPenney, Volvo, Mitsubishi Motors, Olympus, Road & Track magazine, Nook, Martha Stewart Living magazine, Leap Wireless and daily deals website LivingSocial.
The WNBA can take heart in at least one thing. While the website accurately predicted last year that Suzuki, MetroPCS and Current TV would all be gone in the U.S., it missed badly on another prediction — that the Oakland Raiders would cease to exist.
— Mike Bresnahan
