The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996, by the National Basketball Association as the women's counterpart to the (NBA). League play started in 1997; the regular season is currently played from May to August with the finals in September. At the start all teams belong to the NBA but now the teams are being sold to bring private ownership in. The team play in mostly NBA markets andaree linked to their NBA counterparts.