The Sparks’ Days as a Buss Venture May Be Numbered

The WNBA announced more impressive attendance figures this week, and the Sparks having had nothing to do with them is a source of growing discouragement for Spark boss Johnny Buss.

When the Sparks and Mystics drew 19,974 fans to Washington’s MCI Center on Saturday, it was the league’s 83rd 10,000-plus crowd this year, compared to 73 last season.

A bit misleading, however.

First, there are 12 teams this year, compared to 10 last summer.

Second, average attendance is down, and that’s almost across the board. Only Sacramento has posted an increase in attendance, 20%. Every other team in the league is down, from 2.5% to 22.3%.

The Sparks, who averaged 7,453 last summer, are at 6,977 with three home games left this week.

“The most frustrating part of this for me is that I need a much bigger staff to connect us with specific Southern California groups, like high school girls’ basketball teams, and with the budget I have, I can’t do it,” Buss said.

In other words, after three seasons, he hasn’t convinced his father, Laker owner Jerry Buss, that the battle for WNBA attendance in Los Angeles is winnable.

“My dad’s experience with sports other than the Lakers and Kings has been disappointing,” he said.

“He lost millions in World Team Tennis. Then there was roller hockey and indoor soccer, so here I sit--with the budget clamps on tight.”

The Sparks may not be a Buss family project much longer.

Jerry Buss must inform the NBA by Sept. 30 if he wishes to extend his three-year agreement to run the Sparks.

Indications abound that he does not, that stewardship of the Sparks may pass to Laker minority owner Phil Anschutz, who would put them in his new Staples Center next summer.

Some indicators:

* Lawyers are talking.

* Johnny Buss has told Coach Orlando Woolridge that renegotiation on his one-year contract won’t be dealt with until after the season. Dealt with by whom?

* The Sparks are the only WNBA team with no road game radio package. Why? Because it would cost $15,000 a game, deemed too much by Jerry Buss.

* Johnny Buss has proven adept at promoting parking-lot carnivals, youth dance troupes, halftime acrobats and confetti cannons, but there has been little effort made, for whatever the reason, to promote the basketball team.

A shift to the 20,000-seat Staples Center, Johnny Buss said, could mean instant staffing gains. Staples will have marketing and ticket staffs in place.

“That Staples staff could be our light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

“Could we have, at Staples, joint ticket staffs? That’s what I want to know.”

Jerry Buss isn’t talking for now about his plans for the Sparks, but his son, the team president, badly wants the Sparks to succeed under his stewardship.

“What really disappoints me is the lack of cooperation on the part of the Laker organization,” he said.

Indirectly, the criticism was aimed at his father.

“I’m not talking about Jerry West or Mitch Kupchak,” he said.

“I’m talking about why we’re not packaged with the Lakers when it comes to sponsorships. There’s no trickle-down for us, and it’s disappointing because it makes my bottom line look so terrible.”

SHORT SHOTS

Sacramento’s most valuable player candidate, Yolanda Griffith, had arthroscopic surgery Monday afternoon to repair a partially torn ligament in her right knee. Dr. Eric Heiden, the former Olympic speedskater, performed the surgery and said that Griffith could begin rehab Wednesday. She will miss the last two regular-season games. Her status for the playoffs isn’t known, the club said. . . . The WNBA attendance average is 9,921, off from last summer’s 10,869. League President Val Ackerman said she expected “a leveling off.” The laggard, for the second straight season, is Charlotte, averaging 6,649, down 22.3%. Washington leads with 15,003 a game. Five teams average more than 10,000. The Sparks’ 6,977 ranks 10th.