SAN ANTONIO -- A WNBA franchise will be based in San Antonio for the 2003 season, the league's president announced Wednesday.

The team doesn't yet have a name, and it has not been determined whether it will be a new franchise or one moved from an existing WNBA city.

WNBA president Val Ackerman was joined for the announcement at the SBC Center arena by WNBA players Lisa Leslie, Tamika Catchings and Edna Campbell. Also on hand was Houston Comets coach Van Chancellor.

"This is a great day for the WNBA and the city of San Antonio," Ackerman said.

The team will be operated by the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. The WNBA and its teams are now collectively owned by the NBA, though the women's league is moving toward an individual ownership system.

The WNBA plays during the summer months. The San Antonio team will play its home games in the SBC Center.

San Antonio was guaranteed a team after satisfying a requirement that it collect at least 6,000 deposits for season tickets. Since beginning in March, about 6,300 of the $50 deposits had been received, according to Spurs officials.

Chancellor told an amped-up crowd of 200 that the Comets look forward to having another Texas team in the league.

"It's going to be a great interstate rivalry," he said. "You're going to enjoy every minute of it."

Leslie, star player for the WNBA champion Los Angeles Sparx, added that the new players will be accessible and that the team will become an integral part of life in San Antonio.

"We are not just here to play basketball," she said. "We're here to touch people's lives. ... We sign autographs before we play, which is very unusual, and we sign autographs after the game."