From 2002 article, when the WNBA was a wee five years old:

WM reporter for Business Week:

"When will the WNBA be profitable?"

Then-NBA commissioner David Stern:

"Think about the bias of that question. The NHL doesn& #39;t make money, but no one asks them about it. ...

"Major League Baseball loses hundreds of millions. The NBA has lost, probably, hundreds of millions of dollars the last few years. We& #39;ve invested $8 million in the WNBA, and the traditional male media (cry), & #39;Oh my God, it& #39;s losing money.& #39; ...

"It& #39;s not losing money; it& #39;s an investment. In a dot-com age when billions have been thrown into useless assets, the media that cover us are asking exactly the question you just asked. It& #39;s so unfair to the sport."

Thank you, David Stern. #RIP

Someone sent a DM saying he couldn& #39;t find the article on the internet. I haven& #39;t checked, but this is probably true. I was reading it as part of my book research and obtained it in a university library.