A hint of a future home?
A particularly delicious event was added for followers of the New York Liberty’s Facebook page on Wednesday: an August 11 date with the Seattle Storm at none other than Barclays Center.
The addition is a welcome one, greeted with joy by a fanbase still recovering from the team’s exile from Madison Square Garden. And it begins to answer the question of just where the team will play moving forward under new owner Joseph Tsai, who purchased the team from Jim Dolan earlier this year.
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The Liberty played all but two of their home games last season at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York, with the remaining two at Madison Square Garden. Those two games were weekday matchups, typically school or camp days on the schedule.
The sale occurred after the Liberty’s schedule had largely been set at the Westchester County Center in 2019, too, but a pair of games remained TBD for location when the league put out its schedule. One was June 4 against the Los Angeles Sparks. The other? August 13, against the Lynx.
The June 4 game remains TBD on the league’s schedule. The August 13 game is listed as TBD as well.
All of which makes a Sunday, August 11 game against the defending WNBA champs an especially ambitious bit of scheduling, one worthy of a Barclays Center debut for the league. Sue Bird of Syosset, just a train ride away.
The WNBA referred High Post Hoops to the Liberty, who have not responded to an email.
Not only is the event posted to the Facebook page, but it is possible to purchase tickets via Ticketmaster to this event. A link takes you to a map of Barclays Center, and a number of tickers are already available in an American Express-sponsored presale.
A further look at the Liberty’s Events page, as of this story’s publication, reveals a second, preseason Barclays Center game on May 9 against the Chinese National Team.
Ultimately, the primary reason to be so enthusiastic about the sale of the Liberty to Joseph Tsai is that there simply isn’t a more logical place for the WNBA New York team to play than at Barclays Center, easy to reach via numerous subway lines, accessed by the team’s pre-existing fan base, with an opportunity to grow even further in the diverse tapestry that is Brooklyn.
And now, it just got even easier to picture Tina Charles facing Breanna Stewart on the Barclays Center court. More on this story as we get it.
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