By now, if you are a WNBA fan you already know that Lisa M. Borders was recently named as the new president of the association. But did you know that she is a huge fan of the game as well? Borders, the former Vice President of Global Community Affairs at the Coca-Cola Company, is the fourth president of the association and told interviewers that she is a self-described raving fan of the Atlanta Dream, a team that she helped put together when she was on the City Council. She’s such a die-hard fan that she admits, “Sometimes I’m literally screaming at players to box out, move their feet or drive the lane. And I’m asking, ‘Whose man is that?’ I’m the No. 1 fan.”

Borders comes to the position highly qualified, having served not only as the vP of Coca-Coal’s GCA and on the City Council but also as President of the latter. She also worked as the President of the Henry W. Grady Health System Foundation and started the organization No Labels, a citizen’s movement that addresses local and national issues outside of party lines. A graduate of Duke University, she is a member of the Duke University Board of Trustees and obtained her Master’s Degree from the University of Colorado. Borders is serving as the fourth president of the WNBA.

Borders says that she is going to focus heavily on TV ratings to increase the popularity of the organization. She says that it’s a business, and she plans to approach it like one. In its 20^th year, the WNBA is already set to obtain more coverage than ever before but with Borders at the helm, that may be just the beginning. She says that although the WNBA has the best players in the world, it also needs better merchandising and better attendance. With Seattle Sounders players like Jewell Loyd scoring huge Nike contracts, perhaps we will see an increase in both of those as well. Borders’ goal is sound: “we need to connect the individual stories of our players to our fans. We need to develop our players off the court. You need to come to the arenas to see the games.” Fans hope that her strategies for developing these goals will be just as strong as well as successful. One goal, for example, is to finally get ESPN to cover opening day games—something that, after 20 years of the support, should be already occurring.

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