WOMEN'S PRO BASKETBALL HAS COME A LONG WAY, BABY.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal Daily News Staff Writers

Gary Cavalli, co-founder of the American Basketball League, had reason to be frantic before the start of the inaugural season last October.

``When we opened our doors, we had absolutely no idea whether three people would show up or 3,000 people would show up. No one knew what would happen,'' he said.

Ten months later - a day before the rival WNBA's title game will mark the end of the year women's basketball made the biggest impact ever in this country - Cavalli and WNBA officials are more optimistic than ever they will both succeed where other leagues have failed.

The ABL, with the majority of the nation's best players, averaged 3,536 spectators while the NBA-backed WNBA drew a stunning 9,663 per game this summer - twice what league officials expected.

On TV, NBC averaged a solid 1.4 million households for WNBA games, a healthy figure for an untested venture.

The ABL lost roughly $4 million and the WNBA also is expected to be in the red, typical of young enterprises. Still, the reaction of the public and financial backers are signs that this is no fad.

``I think the leagues were tremendously successful,'' said Donna Lopiano, executive director of the influential Women's Sports Foundation. ``Finally, all the elements that have never been behind women's basketball are in place.''

Even outsiders agree the infrastructure for long-term survival is there: financial backing, business savvy and a sizeable pool of quality players.

The eight-team WNBA is owned and operated collectively by the 29 NBA teams, whose marketing dollars and expertise are largely responsible for the high attendance figures and profile. The league, played in NBA cities, has television contracts with NBC, ESPN and Lifetime and such heavyweight sponsors as Nike and General Motors.

The nine-team ABL, played in smaller cities where college basketball is popular, doesn't have the same backing - it's financed primarily by investors and had inferior TV exposure. But Cavalli said big-name sponsors and more investors are expressing interest on the heels of the initial success.

Clearly, the climate is different than it was during earlier forays into women's basketball: The combination of money and commitment is unprecedented.

What happened? The sport became popular.

``Professional (women) players early on, in the '70s, were nothing compared to the talent in college now,'' Lopiano said. ``The talent pool just wasn't large enough.

``Then, with Title IX (the gender-equity law enacted in 1971) and the growth of women's sports has come the realization that women can be professional-quality athletes, too. It was so evident in the '96 Olympics.''

With that backdrop, in the wake of the gold-medal success of the American women's team and growing popularity of college basketball, a professional league seemed inevitable.

Then there were two, each with a unique philosophy. And, of course, comparisons are natural.

With the behemoth NBA behind it, the WNBA had a huge head start over its rival. Most significant, the major television exposure - something the ABL lacked - raised consciousness of women's basketball beyond the dreams of league officials.

Everywhere basketball fans turned, Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and other top WNBA players popped up. Soon, they were as recognizable as many of the men.

The reason the WNBA decided to play in the summer was television - read: less competition - and it paid off. (The ABL plays in the fall and winter, when the men play.)

``The summer was an obvious choice,'' said Alice McGillion, WNBA director of communications. ``The NBA wasn't on NBC until January. There's no way we felt we could be successful taking this to another level if we got lost in all the sports in the fall.''

According to Leslie, the Sparks' star center, the popularity of the WNBA has been so overwhelming that some of her friends in the ABL - she wouldn't name names - regret their decision to play in the ABL and will jump leagues within a few seasons.

Natalie Williams, of the ABL's Portland Power, said she hasn't heard such talk and is optimistic with the league's second season only six weeks away.

``I just made a commercial with Teresa Edwards, Jennifer Azzi, Katrina McClain, all those, and everyone was very excited to start the new season,'' Williams said.

In the ABL, the players have it good in many ways. They're paid more than their WNBA counterparts (an average of $80,000 in the ABL compared to the WNBA average of $50,000); they play a central role in the decision-making process, an attractive perk; and the level of play is higher. The league has eight of the 12 Olympic players and recently signed Stanford's Kate Starbird, the best college player.

Also, for the ABL, which added the Long Beach StingRays this season and saw Richmond move to Philadelphia, attendance figures aren't bad.

``They averaged something like 4,000. Coming from nowhere, that's not a bad start,'' said Rick Burton, a sports marketing specialist at the University of Oregon.

Still, finances - and in turn visibility - are a concern. Newsweek quoted an unidentified Nike executive as saying the company nudges players to the WNBA because ``the ABL just doesn't have the type of exposure that sells product.''

That might change, at least to some extent.

League officials said several announcements are forthcoming. Among them: An expanded television package (including free TV), additional financial backers and sponsors and key player signings.

Also, Cavalli said he and his colleagues learned a great deal from the success of the WNBA's first season. Most significant: promotion. The league will double the amount of money it spends on marketing (to about $3 million, still a fraction of that spent by the WNBA).

At the same time, the league wants to maintain its philosophy.

For example, it chose to go head-to-head against the men in the fall and winter because that's when basketball is played. Simple as that. In the long run, officials believe, it will pay off.

``I still think we're doing it the right way,'' Cavalli said. ``I think women deserve a legitimate stage during the basketball season. A lot of people in women's basketball resent being told they can only play in summer when the boys aren't using the gym.''

The league officials agree on at least one thing: The future is uncertain.

One thing many observers anticipate is a merger of the leagues. Neither Cavalli nor WNBA president Val Ackerman said a merger is in any long-term plan, however, neither would rule it out.

For now, league officials have other concerns.

``We've said all along that the process of building a league will be a long-term one,'' Ackerman said. ``It's a marathon, not a sprint. We have a lot of work ahead of us in building this league into a major professional sports operation, but we've always been in it for the future.''

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Photo

Photo: (Color) Houston's Cynthia Cooper celebrates a 3-point basket during the closing minutes of the Comets' 70-54 victory over the Charlotte Sting in the WNBA semifinals. Houston will face New York in Saturday's WNBA final. Story, Page 9.

Associated Press