1997 Women's National Basketball Association season

Seasons

Inaugural season

1997

1998

Teams and Alignment

Conference	Team	Primary Venue	Municipality
Eastern Conference	Charlotte Sting	Charlotte Coliseum	Charlotte, North Carolina
	Cleveland Rockers	Rocket Arena	Cleveland
	Houston Comets	The Summit	Houston
	New York Liberty	Madison Square Garden	Manhattan, New York
Western Conference	Los Angeles Sparks	Kia Forum	Inglewood, California
	Phoenix Mercury	Mortgage Matchup Center	Phoenix
	Sacramento Monarchs	ARCO Arena (1988)	Sacramento, California
	Utah Starzz	Delta Center	Salt Lake City

Changes

• League established and aligned into Eastern Conference and Western Conference.
• Charlotte Sting enfranchised in Eastern Conference, playing at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Cleveland Rockers enfranchised in Eastern Conference, playing at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
• Houston Comets enfranchised in Eastern Conference, playing at The Summit in Houston.
• Los Angeles Sparks enfranchised in Western Conference, playing at Kia Forum in Inglewood, California.
• New York Liberty enfranchised in Eastern Conference, playing at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York.
• Phoenix Mercury enfranchised in Western Conference, playing at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.
• Sacramento Monarchs enfranchised in Western Conference, playing at ARCO Arena (1988) in Sacramento, California.
• Utah Starzz enfranchised in Western Conference, playing at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Regular Season Results

Conference	Team	W	L	GB
Eastern Conference	Houston Comets	18	10
	New York Liberty	17	11	1
	Charlotte Sting	15	13	3
	Cleveland Rockers	15	13	3
Western Conference	Phoenix Mercury	16	12
	Los Angeles Sparks	14	14	2
	Sacramento Monarchs	10	18	6
	Utah Starzz	7	21	9

Postseason Results

Team (Single-Game)		Team (Single-Game)		Champions
Houston Comets	70	Houston Comets	65	Houston Comets
Charlotte Sting	54
New York Liberty	59	New York Liberty	51
Phoenix Mercury	41

Markets and Venues

Combined Statistical Area	Metropolitan Statistical Area	Metropolitan Division	County / Equivalent	Municipality	Venue	Team / Event	Regular	Postseason	Total
Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC Combined Statistical Area	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statistical Ara		Mecklenburg County, North Carolina	Charlotte, North Carolina	Charlotte Coliseum	Charlotte Sting	14		14
Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area	Cleveland, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area		Cuyahoga County, Ohio	Cleveland	Rocket Arena	Cleveland Rockers	14		14
Houston-Pasadena, TX Combined Statistical Area	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area		Harris County, Texas	Houston	The Summit	Houston Comets	14	Two	16
Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA Combined Statistical Area	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division	Los Angeles County, California	Inglewood, California	Kia Forum	Los Angeles Sparks	14		14
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area	New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division	New York County, New York	Manhattan, New York	Madison Square Garden	New York Liberty	14		14
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ Combined Statistical Area	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metropolitan Statistical Area		Maricopa County, Arizona	Phoenix	Mortgage Matchup Center	Phoenix Mercury	14	One	15
Sacramento-Roseville, CA Combined Statistical Area	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area		Sacramento County, California	Sacramento, California	ARCO Arena (1988)	Sacramento Monarchs	14		14
Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, UT-ID Combined Statistical Area	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area		Salt Lake County, Utah	Salt Lake City	Delta Center	Utah Starzz	14		14
Total							112	Three	115