Amasa company spotlights role in women’s basketball facilities boom

Connor Sports is using the surge in women’s basketball to put Amasa, and Iron County, in front of a national audience. Coming off UCLA’s 79-51 win over South Carolina for the Bruins’ first NCAA women’s basketball championship on April 5, the company used the moment to underline how often its floors show up in the sport’s most visible buildings.

The Amasa manufacturer says its work stretches from college basketball’s biggest stage to the WNBA’s newest facilities push. Connor Sports said it has been in business since 1872 and installed its first basketball court in 1914. Since 2006, it has served as the official court provider for NCAA March Madness and the men’s and women’s Final Four, a run that keeps the company tied to the events that define the sport’s calendar.

That reach now includes an expanding list of professional women’s teams. Connor Sports pointed to work connected to the Portland Fire and the Golden State Valkyries, along with upcoming practice facilities for the Los Angeles Sparks and the Chicago Sky. It also cited previous projects with the Las Vegas Aces, Atlanta Dream, Connecticut Sun and Dallas Wings. The company says it is the preferred hardwood sports flooring provider to more than a dozen NBA and WNBA teams.

The timing matters because the women’s game is in the middle of a facilities race. The Chicago Sky announced in 2024 that it would build a dedicated WNBA practice facility, with completion scheduled for December 2025 and multiple regulation-sized courts. The Los Angeles Sparks later announced a $150 million, 55,000-square-foot training and practice facility in El Segundo, scheduled to open in 2027. The Sparks described it as the largest investment to date in the history of women’s sports for a single team.

For Iron County, the broader value is not just basketball bragging rights. Connor Sports’ manufacturing plant and research and development office are at 251 Industrial Park Rd. in Amasa, and the company’s national profile gives a rural Upper Peninsula community a place in a fast-growing sports economy. As the Portland Fire launched its 2026 debut season with 22 regular-season home games at Moda Center, and the Golden State Valkyries opened their first WNBA season, the courts underneath those teams were another reminder that some of the sport’s biggest assets are built in small Northern Michigan towns.