The league’s ownership structure, however, has grown increasingly complex. When the WNBA launched in 1997, all eight original franchises were owned and operated by NBA teams in the same markets. That model shifted in 2002, when the NBA Board of Governors voted to allow independent ownership and teams in non-NBA cities. Since then, independent owners such as the Mohegan Tribe have joined the league, including its purchase and relocation of the Orlando Miracle to Connecticut in 2003.
