Sky president confident team will be successful in its new suburban home

Game on, suburban Chicago.

The Chicago Sky, now in its fifth season, moved from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago to Allstate Arena in Rosemont during the off-season and is finally ready to show off it new digs. The home opener is 7 p.m. Saturday against the defending Eastern Conference champion Indiana Fever.

I caught up with Sky president Margaret Stender to ask her about what Sky games will be like at Allstate, her thoughts on the team's first two games, the health of the franchise and league in general, and more.

PBM: Is there anything special fans can expect to see/experience at the home opener tonight?

MS: We're having a tailgate party that starts at 4 p.m. It's out in the (Allstate Arena) parking lot. Everyone is welcome. There is free pizza provided by Gino's East, hot dogs by Vienna and beverages by Pepsi. It's open for all folks coming to the game. There will be a DJ out there. The Fly Kids will be out there. People can walk up and buy tickets if there are any available.

The other thing is that we do have a bit of a special player intro. We'll be introducing players with the lights out for the first time ever, and they'll be coming out into the arena from an unexpected place. It'll be exciting.

PBM: The Sky opened the season last weekend with two road losses, at Connecticut (74-61) and at New York (85-82). What are your impressions of the team so far?

MS: I was disappointed that we lost, but I was very encouraged by how the team responded after the Connecticut game. We were right there (in New York).

What's going on is that we have a lot of new players, and it's new players adjusting to a new system. Right now, we're in a place that requires enormous mental discipline to put it all together. There's no question we can do it. To me, nothing is broken.

PBM: There are a lot of new faces on the 2010 roster. What is the chemistry like?

MS: It's been the best early chemistry feel we've had in the entire five years. The dynamic among these athletes is really positive. Everyone is happy, there are good friendships brewing, there's good trust, great respect for each other's skills. There's not any kind of big ego thing going on.

This group of 11 we have right now has the potential to have some really magical chemistry moments.

I really love the talent we have and I love their attitudes toward each other.

PBM: How is the Sky doing from a business perspective heading into its fifth season?

MS: We're very well capitalized. We don't have cash flow issues. We don't have that kind of stress that some start-up teams might have. We're in this for the long term. (Sky owner) Michael (Alter), me, the rest of our investors, we are very, very committed to this. It's not a fad. It's not going to shoot straight up. It's a building thing. We have a plan and it's a long-term plan.

Can I tell you that we are meeting our (original) plan? I can't. We started with a plan that was much more aggressive. But that doesn't change our ability or our confidence in where we're going.

We've changed some major things (since last season) that we feel are going to all come together soon and really help us move forward.

PBM: What changes are you referring to?

MS: Well, we've made some major player changes. That's the first thing. The other big changes are the arena and the TV situation (the Sky had a 4-game TV package last year and is now at 28 games).

We're investing a lot this year in more advertising, the games being on television, this brand new arena. A lot of people will be coming here for the first time and trying it. The benefit of all of that will come in 2011, especially as it relates to business partners.

We do have some new ones this year, and we're very happy about that. But I know for a fact that there are partners who will be more interested now that we're in a pro arena. Once they come out here and see how things get executed (at Allstate) and once we start getting to 5,000, 6,000 fans, there will be business partners who will want to work with us.

PBM: Can the suburbs be the fan gold mine that the Sky is looking for? What are you expecting in attendance?

MS: We averaged 3,900 fans last year. If we average about 4,500 this year, we'd be thrilled with that. That would be really healthy growth for us and we're optimistic that can happen.

We got great (season ticket) renewal. We have about 70 percent of our season ticket holders who were at the UIC Pavilion coming out to Allstate with us. We're very encouraged about that. And we have a lot of new season ticket holders. We're about 30 percent higher in new season tickets versus where we were a year ago at this time.

Capacity (lower bowl only) is 7,000 for us and we already have some games where we'll be sold out. That's the positive momentum we need.

PBM: What are your thoughts on the WNBA in general. In the last year, the league has had a team move (Detroit to Tulsa) and another team dissolve (Sacramento)?

MS: I would say that we are stable and improving. There's no cakewalk here. It's not easy. But the 12 teams and the ownership groups that are in the league right now seem very committed to the league.

PBM: What does the WNBA have to do in the short term to get on more stable ground?

MS: There's a lot of optimism about attendance as we go into 2010. But I think we have to continue to bring more people in to see the product. It's all about fans, fans who love the game, love the product and want to stay with us.

People who come to our games, whether it's in Chicago or any of the markets, come back. We just have to educate people about the WNBA and get them to try it. And a lot of that has to do with exposure. The exposure helps to educate and the education leads to an experience.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com