The 1978-79 Milwaukee Does. Photo courtesy sportslogos.net
Thirty-seven years ago this December, a tip-off like none other at the downtown MECCA Arena ushered in a new era for professional sports. It was the opening of the Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL), an opening day showdown between the Chicago Hustle and the Milwaukee Does, the first professional women’s basketball game ever played in North America .
A while back, I wrote about some of the Cream City ’s forgotten men’s basketball teams. I planned on including the Does in that piece, but given the unique place within both sporting and local history the team occupies, I felt the club deserved a post of its own.
The WBL was launched by sports promoter Bill Byrne. The league was an attempt to capitalize on the burgeoning popularity of women’s sports. Just five years prior to its launch, more than 90 million people tuned in to watch Billie Jean King defeat Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes
