The WNBA plans to commit $50 million over the next two years to provide full-time charter flight service for its teams during the season, the league’s commissioner announced Tuesday in a move that addresses years of player safety concerns.

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a meeting with sports editors that the league will launch a charter program “as soon as we can get planes in places.” She said it’s projected to cost around $25 million per year for the next two seasons.

That means no more long security lines, bodyguards in public spaces, cramped legroom or layovers for the professional athletes who have been lobbying for better travel long before Caitlin Clark’s celebrity brought newfound interest to the league.

Most importantly, Lynx forward Napheesa Collier says, it means safety for the players.

“All these players and these faces are becoming so popular that it really is about that as much as it as about recovery,” Collier said, noting how last season Brittney Griner was harassed by what the WNBA called a “provocateur” while traveling commercial.

The WNBA already had announced plans to once again pay for charter flights for the entire playoffs as well as for back-to-back games during the upcoming season. The league introduced that program last year, spending about $4 million on charter flights. Engelbert said at the time the league needed to be in the right financial position to do full-time charter flights.

The WNBA has never been more popular thanks to rookies like Clark, who helped the NCAA reach its best viewership in history for women’s basketball, with nearly 19 million fans watching the title game, along with Angel Reese who went to the Met Gala on Monday night and Cameron Brink.

Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said it’s not business as usual anymore: It’s time for the league, franchises and women’s sports to be innovative.

“We’ve had moments in the league,” Reeve said, calling the current momentum a tsunami. “But this is clearly a movement. And if you think it’s not, you’re going to get left behind.”

Clark attracted attention walking through the airport with her new Indiana Fever teammates for a preseason game with the Dallas Wings last week. That exhibition sold out with fans lined up eager to get inside.

WNBA teams also have been moving games against Clark and Indiana to bigger arenas because of increased demand. The defending champion Las Vegas Aces became the first WNBA team to sell out allotted season tickets back in March after leading the league in attendance in 2023.

Flights have been an ongoing issue for the WNBA that only increased last year when the league began working with the Phoenix Mercury and Griner after the All-Star center’s 10-month detainment in Russia.

The league hadn’t allowed teams to use charter flights except for when they had back-to-back games.

That forced players like Breanna Stewart, the 6-foot-4 forward for the New York Liberty, to squeeze past fellow travelers on commercial flights to fit into her assigned window seat. WNBA players also had to not only retrieve their own luggage but endure travel days that could stretch 13 hours with delays.

Charter flights will allow WNBA players to go through private air terminals straight to buses or their own cars when returning home. Avoiding layovers also will help with recovery between games, which is even more crucial with this season’s schedule around the Olympics.

WNBA coaches and players were waiting Tuesday for details about the charter flights.

Stewart spoke to reporters via Zoom just before the commissioner spoke in New York. Stewart shared on social media an airplane emoji with a question mark to the attention of the WNBA’s account.

Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon, whose Aces already had security in place to protect players, knows what will make everyone ecstatic.

“Everybody’s very happy they’re not going to have to stand in security lines as much, or as long,” Hammon said.

Two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, who now has an endorsement deal with Gatorade, said the growth of the women’s game has been a “whirlwind” that was just a matter of time. Wilson said it’s up to the players and teams to put the best product on the court with so many people watching now.

“That’s what continues to bring more eyes and more people and more investors, and then we end up with charter flights, and then things are going off and people are spinning off, and now we’re having a great time,” Wilson said.

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Toledo’s Triple-A team started strong with four runs in the first inning Tuesday in Ohio, and the Saints couldn’t recover, losing 7-5.

The Saints got on the board in the second with a solo homer from Yunior Severino, his fourth of the season. The Mud Hens added their own run.

A home run from DaShawn Keirsey Jr., an RBI double from Patrick Winkel, and a two-run homer from Kiersey Jr. boosted the Saints but not quite high enough.

The second game of the series is 10:05 a.m. on Wednesday.

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People buying tickets online for concerts, sporting events and other live events in Minnesota will be guaranteed more transparency and protection under a so-called Taylor Swift bill signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Tim Walz.

The law, prompted by the frustration a legislator felt at not being able to buy tickets to Swift’s 2023 concert in Minneapolis, will require ticket sellers to disclose all fees up front and prohibit resellers from selling more than one copy of a ticket, among other measures. The law will apply to tickets purchased in Minnesota or other states for concerts or other live events held in Minnesota.

Walz signed House File 1989 — a reference to Swift’s birth year and an album with that title — at First Avenue, a landmark nightclub and concert venue in downtown Minneapolis.

Kelly Moller (Courtesy photo)

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that we would be at a bill signing for House File 1989 at First Avenue,” said Democratic Rep. Kelly Moller of Shoreview, chief author of the bill.

Moller was among thousands of people who became stuck in ticket sales company Ticketmaster’s system after it crashed in 2022 amid the huge demand for Swift concert tickets and attacks from bots, which tried to buy tickets for resale at inflated prices. The situation led to congressional hearings but no federal legislation.

Supporters of Minnesota’s new law say the state joins Maryland as among the few states to pass protections for ticket buyers into law.

Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new Minnesota law. Taylor Swift’s media team also did not respond.

Taylor Swift performs during her ‘Eras Tour’ concert at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Friday, June 23, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Jessica Roey, a spokesperson for reseller StubHub, said in an email, “StubHub has long advocated for legislation that protects fans from anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices in the ticket buying process. We share the goals of HF1989 and look forward to continuing discussions with policymakers to advance policies that provide more transparency, more control, and more choice for ticket buyers.”

Earlier: After Taylor Swift came to town, Ross Raihala said there’s no one else like her. Here’s why.

Walz, a Democrat, said the new law is “protection so you don’t get a bad ticket, a fraudulent ticket, and resellers can’t snatch them all up before you get an opportunity.”

Mike Dean and his daughters at First Avenue on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, after Gov. Tim Walz signed a so-called Taylor Swift bill. (AP Photo/Trisha Ahmed)

Two young girls — one wearing a shirt that said “A LOT going on at the moment” in a nod to Swift, and another wearing a shirt that said “Iowa 22” in reference to basketball star Caitlin Clark — attended the bill signing with their dad, Mike Dean, who testified in support of the bill this year.

Dean said his daughter “came to me in December and said, ‘Dad, I want to go to see Caitlin Clark.’ As a father, I just couldn’t resist. And so I went online to go buy tickets.”

The tickets were supposed to cost $300 total, Dean said, but they ended up costing over $500 because of hidden fees. The timer had begun in the online checkout process, so he had just minutes to decide whether to buy the tickets or lose them.

He ultimately bought the tickets. But Dean said these practices mean customers can’t make informed decisions. The new law, he said, will bring transparency to the process.

The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2025, and applies to tickets sold on or after that date.

Adrianna Korich, director of ticketing at First Avenue, said she supports the new rules, saying fans are sometimes tricked into paying up to 10 times a ticket’s face value because of deceptive websites and resellers who list tickets without actually possessing them. The new law bans both, she said.

“We have all heard the horror stories from the Taylor Swift Eras tour and have seen the astronomical prices that are being charged at checkout,” Korich said.

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First came the free fall, with Minnesota losing its final five games of the Professional Women’s Hockey League regular season. Then came what amounted to a free pass, which came despite being unable to take advantage of having its playoff fate in its own hands heading down the stretch.

Minnesota forward Abby Boreen (24) celebrates after scoring against Ottawa during the second period of a PWHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Now, Minnesota must find a way to return to playing free and easy if it is going to upset top-seed Toronto in the best-of-five PWHL semifinal. Games 1 and 2 will be played Wednesday and Friday in Toronto. Game 3 is set for Monday at Xcel Energy Center.

“Thankfully, the hockey gods allowed us to get in when we couldn’t take care of our own business,” Minnesota general manager Natalie Darwitz said. “I hope the team is refreshed and renewed, knowing that they might have had something taken away from them, and they got a second life.”

Asked where he feels the team is mentally in advance of Game 1, head coach Ken Klee said he believes there is a sense of relief.

“The pressure was mounting a bit,” Klee said. “There was a lot with the travel coming off the break. Then losing a game in the last minute in Montreal. Then losing a game with two seconds to go against Boston.

“I just think there was a lot of mental stress on us. But now we’re 0-0 now like the other three teams, and we’re excited to go.”

Minnesota’s calling card for most of the season has been a stingy defense backed up by solid goaltending. But it gave up 19 goals in the five-game losing streak, an average of 3.8 per game.

The team mantra is getting back to playing its game.

“I think you throw the results out and then take some of the good and the bad that happened in those five games,” forward Kelly Pannek said. “At this point, take what we can learn, as well as the positives.”

Klee said the key will be “getting back to doing the little things well.”

“Obviously, special teams are going to be key,” Klee added. “Our penalty kill needs to be better, our power play needs to be better. We’ve shown spurts that we can do it. It’s just about being consistent.”

Minnesota was in the hunt for the regular season title until the five-game skid. It beat Toronto 3-1 in the first meeting between the teams and lost in overtime in one of its three losses to Toronto.

“We know the talent we have on the ice,” Darwitz said. “We know what we can do. Obviously we’re in a little bit of a rut right now, and it takes just one bounce, one momentum change, to get out of that.”

Toronto scored a league-high 69 goals during the regular season while allowing a league-low 50. The offense is led by likely league Most Valuable Player Natalie Spooner, who led the PWHL in goals (20) and points (27). Right behind her is teammate Sarah Nurse, who collected 11 goals and 12 assists.

Minnesota can counter with some stars of its own, including Kendall Coyne Schofield and Taylor Heise, who were key members of Team USA in the World Championship, and top goal scorer Grace Zumwinkle.

“Now we need our big players to play big,” Klee said. “There’s no hiding from it, and I think they’re going to embrace it.”

Minnesota will get a boost with the return of forward Abby Boreen to the lineup. Boreen’s availability this season has been limited while she attends pharmacy school at the U. She’s back on a final 10-day contract.

When Boreen’s been in the lineup she has been productive, scoring four goals in nine games. She adds some physical play up front, which will be needed against Toronto.

“I don’t think that there’s any doubt that we’re a very physical team, and we like to play fast,” Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull said. “When you look at NHL teams that are successful in the playoffs, they are teams that are able to sustain a physical game and a fast game over a series.

“We’re well equipped for the playoffs.”

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