Coming soon to a theater near you: The Chicago Sky

We may not be buying houses, cars, furniture, refrigerators and other big-ticket items in this disastrous economy, but, apparently, we are still going to the movies.

And that's good news for the Chicago Sky. Because as Sky president Margaret Stender reminded me last week at a preseason media event, "We're a movie!"

According to recent entertainment reports, movie box-office receipts were up 20 percent nationally in January, giving the industry its first billion-dollar January in history.

That news puts a big smile on Stender's face.

In response to the economy, the Sky has lowered prices on a majority of its seats for the 2009 season, which starts in June, by 20 percent. So now, the lowest-priced tickets are in line with movie tickets.

"We go from $10 - to $120," Stender said. "Families are still looking for stuff to do. And a movie seems to be the price point. We can't afford to go to a Broadway show or the theater, but we can afford to go to the movies. We're right in that set. We're a really good value."

Cutting ticket prices isn't the Sky's only counter to the economy.

The team is also cutting positions.

Every WNBA team is.

To stay afloat, the league is getting leaner than ever. And this is a league that doesn't carry a lot of extra weight to begin with, thanks to very realistic player salaries.

But starting this year, there won't even be as many of those salaries to pay out because every roster will drop from 13 players to 11.

With 13 teams in the league, that's 26 spots from last year that won't be there this year. And with the death of the once-proud Houston Comets in December, 13 spots from last season had already gone by the wayside.

Add it all up and that's a 21 percent reduction in the WNBA's workforce in one year.

"The teams talked, people from the WNBA talked, we went to the players union - it kind of came from all sides, and the most important thing we said is that we didn't want to do anything to reduce costs that would affect the quality of play or the experience for the fans," Stender said. "We thought (cutting the roster) was a risk worth taking.

"When you really look at it, you can only suit up 11 anyway. (The other two players were on the inactive list.) And usually, only eight play, maybe nine. Some of those ladies weren't even getting into live games."

Not only will WNBA teams dump salary with this move, they'll also be off the hook for some significant expenses that are associated with each player, such as travel, per diem and even in-season housing, which all WNBA teams subsidize.

"You'd be surprised at how fast it all adds up," Stender said. "You get to the point where you start thinking, is this really what we should be doing (in this economy)? It makes you think about things differently."

The silver lining, Stender says, is two-fold.

Teams with fewer roster spots will likely be more competitive internally, which should translate to a better product. And a league with a reduced overhead will make for a much healthier business in the long run.

"It's depressing to listen to the news these days, but things are going to get better," Stender said. "Right now, we're being forced to find better solutions - everyone from the President of the United States and his staff all the way down to every business in America. But we're going to weather this and we'll be healthier and stronger because we did."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com