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Hawkeye
Joined: 10 Aug 2010 Posts: 760 Location: Houston, TX
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Posted: 10/02/18 6:54 pm ::: |
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Next president needs to scrap the gimmicky playoff format. Go back to top 4 in each conference make the playoffs.
Make every series a best of seven.
Add more teams. Over the next 10 years, the league should grow to 18.
Extend the season. 34 games is just stupid short for a pro league. I get the international schedule...salary cap needs to increase.
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StevenHW
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 10979 Location: Sacramento, California
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Posted: 10/02/18 6:58 pm ::: |
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CamrnCrz1974 wrote: |
StevenHW wrote: |
To my knowledge, in all the major team sports leagues in the U.S., there has never been a commissioner/president of the league that was a former player. MLB never had a an ex-player for its commissioner. The same thing goes for the NBA, NHL, and the NFL.
I would be surprised if Tamika Catchings or any other former player was named the WNBA President. |
The WNBA Commissioner should have significant executive experience with professional sports and should be an attorney.
-- Adam Silver has his BA (Duke) and JD (University of Chicago).
-- David Stern (former NBA Commissioner) has his BA and JD.
-- Rob Manfred (MLB Commissioner) has his BS from Cornell and his JD from Harvard.
-- Gary Bettman (NHL Commissioner) has a BS in labor relations from Cornell and a JD from NYU.
-- While the MLS commissioner does not have a law degree, both the President/Deputy Commissioner (#2) and the Chief Administrative and Social Responsibility Officer (#4) do. That's #2 and #4 of MLS executives.
And #3 (President/ Managing Director of Business Ventures) is a Duke grad (BA), who has an MBA from George Washington.
Only Roger Goodell (NFL Commissioner) does not have a law degree, among the four major professional sports. |
The WNBA's first president, Val Ackerman, has a law degree from UCLA, and later worked in a New York law firm before joining the NBA as a staff attorney. But I'm not sure if her successors has a law degree.
_________________ "The more I see of the moneyed classes, the more I understand the guillotine." -- George Bernard Shaw
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tfan
Joined: 31 May 2010 Posts: 9544
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Posted: 10/02/18 10:48 pm ::: |
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What does a law degree bring to the table for the head of a sports league? David Stern started as a lawyer employee for the NBA, so they do have lawyers employed that aren't the president.
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MrCam
Joined: 19 Sep 2018 Posts: 164
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Posted: 10/03/18 12:14 am ::: |
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CamrnCrz1974 wrote: |
StevenHW wrote: |
To my knowledge, in all the major team sports leagues in the U.S., there has never been a commissioner/president of the league that was a former player. MLB never had a an ex-player for its commissioner. The same thing goes for the NBA, NHL, and the NFL.
I would be surprised if Tamika Catchings or any other former player was named the WNBA President. |
The WNBA Commissioner should have significant executive experience with professional sports and should be an attorney.
-- Adam Silver has his BA (Duke) and JD (University of Chicago).
-- David Stern (former NBA Commissioner) has his BA and JD.
-- Rob Manfred (MLB Commissioner) has his BS from Cornell and his JD from Harvard.
-- Gary Bettman (NHL Commissioner) has a BS in labor relations from Cornell and a JD from NYU.
-- While the MLS commissioner does not have a law degree, both the President/Deputy Commissioner (#2) and the Chief Administrative and Social Responsibility Officer (#4) do. That's #2 and #4 of MLS executives.
And #3 (President/ Managing Director of Business Ventures) is a Duke grad (BA), who has an MBA from George Washington.
Only Roger Goodell (NFL Commissioner) does not have a law degree, among the four major professional sports. |
And yet the GREATEST Commissioner EVER, did not have a law or business degree.
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MrCam
Joined: 19 Sep 2018 Posts: 164
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Posted: 10/03/18 12:17 am ::: |
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Hawkeye wrote: |
salary cap needs to increase. |
And the money well come from where, exactly?
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Admiral_Needa
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 10454 Location: Tiburon, CA
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 66773 Location: Where the action is
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Posted: 10/03/18 5:21 am ::: |
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The W needs a president with a sports background
_________________ Let us not deceive ourselves. Our educational institutions have proven to be no bastions of democracy.
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Richyyy
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 24327 Location: London
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Posted: 10/03/18 5:51 am ::: |
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pilight wrote: |
The W needs a president with a sports background |
They'll also want a woman, though (ideally a black woman). And then the person has to want the job. We're starting to get down to a pretty small pool of qualified candidates at that point. |
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NoDakSt
Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 4929
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Posted: 10/03/18 6:16 am ::: |
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Richyyy wrote: |
pilight wrote: |
The W needs a president with a sports background |
They'll also want a woman, though (ideally a black woman). And then the person has to want the job. We're starting to get down to a pretty small pool of qualified candidates at that point. |
Anyone have SOnja Henning's number?
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Happycappie25
Joined: 07 Feb 2006 Posts: 4174 Location: QUEENS!!!!
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Posted: 10/03/18 7:47 am ::: |
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Have a lot to say here...indeed if you see me back on rebs
..expect a deep dive beyond what i can effeciently tweet.
A few comments about the past events
1 having 3 top officials leave within 6 months is not good any way you slice it...it is clear and has been clear for about a year the players dont trust the owners...will more than likely opt out and that this opt out will cause the w business model to change and change drastically....it is also seemingly clear that the nba owners have less interest in the league despite improvements. Whoever takes over will have to first navigate the biggest crossroads the league has hit since the end of the single entity era in 2003...the way things are structured for 2020 onward will have a huge impact...this is not hyperbole...it is this important...players want a way to get paid...w needs to find a fairer and yet cost effective way to pay them...there are many answers but no clear cut solution im afraid tho i dont trust the owners numbers one iota...its to their benefit to look as poor as possible going into this cba and there are already numbers being throwb out that fail the eye test.
2. Was Borders good or bad for the league. Good question. Time will tell. Certainly the new playoff format has been mostly good except for the second one and done round which is too punitive to teams with very good records but this is fixable and the jist of the format has helped with ratings and interest. Fanduel has been a boon to exposure and the tweet games have not been mentioned enough in increasing the leagues footprint
MGM was a great find i agree tho gate hasnt quite matched mgms spend yet but ill give it time...best independent owner since force 10 that i can think of.
Another thing Borders gets little credit for is setting up a new framework for the hiring and retention of officials...tho it will take time to bear fruit it was a huge step in the right direction.
However there was a lot of bad and ugly...the BLM fines was an avoidable embarassment that caused a lot of tension...she liked to shill...which can work in the right places but makes you look foolish ignorant and incompetent if done too long or for the wrong thing...her handling of WCC was sickening and knocked her down a few notches on many scales...also her replies to calls for more pay crossed into talking down and showed a lack of candor...for someone touted as a friend of the players...not a good look...the draft was a disaster in year 1...nike hq was better but still need it at LEAST open to home sth...cant put the toothpaste back in the tube.
Espn outlay gave them too much control to show fewer games each year...i don't put that in the win column honestly...when they perfer cornhole to the w...thats not a win
The political marketing is a push to me...yes it got exposure and maybe more women to show than men which apparently is an issue to silver so its an issue to the w...but how long will it last and marketing the w as a cause not a sport is a big slipperly slope...one that laurel richie correctly identified as an issue before she left
So Regans law of work evaluation: are you better off now than you were 4 years ago? Hard one...is interest up...yes...but there are a lot of issues that are massive that need to be addressed
Libs sale
Cba
Travel
Espn scaling back every year
Arena size (i agree with her 7-10 is right its just getting there with correct creature comforts to get the fans in)
Demographics (only cuz silver brings it up)
Thats a lot left to do and while time caused many...we cant let borders leave without noting these left behind
SO who to replace
Given the timing of the cba we need someone soon who knows the w and has ties to the players...no more outsiders...i dont care about demographics tho i perfer a woman 99% of the time.
I think it was a mistake not to approach former and current gms and owners last time and this time with the league as unstable as it was in 09...it would be a GRAVE mistake
For those yelling catchings...no in a cba year the league is gonna hire someone who was in charge of the union recently...nope not gonna happen...it just wont...too much at stake hell it may even be a conflict of interest depending how the leagues papers are written.
Bringing back someone like parry also likely wont happen so ill set that aside
As great it will be dont think your getting karen Bryant out of retirement although shed be perfect for the role
So an attainable short list in no order to me
KRISTEN BERNERT
AMBER COX
CHRIS SIENKO
KELLY KUSPAROF
PENNY TOLER (just to get a woc in but again former player in a cba year...good luck)
All wnba lifers or close to it all with success marketing and growing their clubs all up yo speed on the realities looming over the league
If you must go outside at least stick to sports like a kim ng or former w exec Amy Scheer who's running RBNY.
We need someone who lives eats and breathes the w and can lead in the w
I dont think you find that at coke or the girl scouts.
_________________ "Leave it to the NCAA women's basketball committee to turn a glass slipper into glass ceiling" Graham Hays
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toad455
Joined: 16 Nov 2005 Posts: 22470 Location: NJ
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Posted: 10/03/18 7:54 am ::: |
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Odds are we won't hear anything about hiring a new President until the Spring. Why hire someone now when the NBA can hold off on paying someone until April?
_________________ LET'S GO LIBERTY!!!!!!
Twitter: @TBRBWAY
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ClayK
Joined: 11 Oct 2005 Posts: 11105
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Posted: 10/03/18 9:37 am ::: |
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I agree with happycappie that the new CBA might be the single most important event for the future of the WNBA. And the players will opt out, no question ...
But that said, I'm not sure what the president, or anyone really, can do to solve the primary dilemma: There's not enough fan interest to generate enough income for the owners to break even and the players to get paid more.
Of course I don't believe the owners -- the books will be cooked as they always are in these negotiations. But the bottom line issue is that franchises have no value, and even the most optimistic booster would be hard-pressed to argue that a WNBA team could consistently make $1 million profit on ticket sales, sponsorships and media money. It seems much more likely, really, that breaking even is a good year, and losing money is more common than making money.
But let's say that every team makes $250,000 profit each year (which from my understanding is not at all realistic). So if you take all of that profit and give it to the players (none to coaches, staff or administrators), you raise the average salary about $25,000. Now that's a nice chunk, but I don't think that moves the needle in terms of players not going overseas.
If the non-players get any money, and the owners are allowed to keep some profit, the average boost in salary drops below $20,000, and again, that's nice, but is far from a fundamental change.
Now lower that $250,000 to $100,000 (which may still be high), and there's not a lot of impact for anyone.
And again, what can the president, or anyone, do about these numbers? The WNBA's economic situation is pretty clearly established, and a lot of people claim the ESPN deal is a loser for the network and won't be renewed at the same rate.
If the arenas were packed, and TV ratings were good enough that NBA-TV would run WNBA games instead of Bad Boys' reruns, then there would be a pot of money to split. But even though the owners are lying, that doesn't mean they're making enough money to pay players enough to keep them out of Europe ...
_________________ Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā
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MrCam
Joined: 19 Sep 2018 Posts: 164
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Posted: 10/03/18 11:23 am ::: |
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ClayK wrote: |
But that said, I'm not sure what the president, or anyone really, can do to solve the primary dilemma: There's not enough fan interest to generate enough income for the owners to break even and the players to get paid more.
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1. Many posters KNOW by now that I think highly of A'ja Wilson as a
PLAYER. With that said, She uttered one of the STUPIDEST state-
ments to ever come out of the mouth of a basketball player when
she pondered why WNBA players do not make LeBron money. A'ja
is Dyslexic, however, that does not explain nor excuse the stupidity
of her statement. Therefore, I have to hang extreme business eco-
nomic IGNORANCE around her neck.
2. As "ClayK" states, the players have said: show me the money. The
owners respond with; we do not have the money. What the players
have failed to ponder or show, where is the "money" going to come
from?
3. The majority of you I am sure are quite familiar with the finances
of the WNBA. From my YEARS of reading at a soccer website the
WNBA's revenue streams are similar in nature but not scale to
MLS. MLS has a decent but nothing to brag about t.v. contract.
MLS also has a substantial Adidas clothing contract. The digital
revolution has caused cord cutting. For Gen-Xers & Millennials
their phone and their computers have become THEIR t.v.
4. Take the Seattle Sounders, they have exactly ONE MLS Title. Now
Seattle is the hipster capital of North America. Why have the WHITE
male & female HIPSTERS of Seattle failed to embrace the Seattle
Storm and give them anywhere near the same level of intensity &
support that they give to the Sounders? Is it because "SOCCER" &
and not basketball is the hipster sport of choice? The Storm now
have THREE WNBA Titles and the Sounders have exactly one MLS
Cup Title. Do Seattle's white male hipsters hate liberal Black & White
lesbian women? Do Seattle's white female hipsters hate Black & White
liberal lesbian women? The Sounders average 40,000 per game and
the The Storm average 8,000 per game.
The attendance disparity therefore places a PREMIUM on the game-
day experience & revenues. Ticket sales, parking, concessions, mer-
chandise & LOCAL t.v. deals. MLS & the WNBA both began operations
in 1996. Both leagues have failed to achieve Major League status. Can
anyone present a plausible scenario that can/will catapult the WNBA to
at least MLS revenue levels?
FYI - In my years of reading, more than a few MLS fans have verbally
POOPED on the WNBA. I do not have the data, but I am very confident
that the FAN demographics of MLS and the WNBA are very similar if not
EXACTLY the same. LIBERAL & WHITE. The only question is; which lea-
gue attracts more hipsters?
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WNBA 09
Joined: 26 Jun 2009 Posts: 12494 Location: Dallas , Texas
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Posted: 10/03/18 12:23 pm ::: |
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MrCam wrote: |
ClayK wrote: |
But that said, I'm not sure what the president, or anyone really, can do to solve the primary dilemma: There's not enough fan interest to generate enough income for the owners to break even and the players to get paid more.
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1. Many posters KNOW by now that I think highly of A'ja Wilson as a
PLAYER. With that said, She uttered one of the STUPIDEST state-
ments to ever come out of the mouth of a basketball player when
she pondered why WNBA players do not make LeBron money. A'ja
is Dyslexic, however, that does not explain nor excuse the stupidity
of her statement. Therefore, I have to hang extreme business eco-
nomic IGNORANCE around her neck.
2. As "ClayK" states, the players have said: show me the money. The
owners respond with; we do not have the money. What the players
have failed to ponder or show, where is the "money" going to come
from?
3. The majority of you I am sure are quite familiar with the finances
of the WNBA. From my YEARS of reading at a soccer website the
WNBA's revenue streams are similar in nature but not scale to
MLS. MLS has a decent but nothing to brag about t.v. contract.
MLS also has a substantial Adidas clothing contract. The digital
revolution has caused cord cutting. For Gen-Xers & Millennials
their phone and their computers have become THEIR t.v.
4. Take the Seattle Sounders, they have exactly ONE MLS Title. Now
Seattle is the hipster capital of North America. Why have the WHITE
male & female HIPSTERS of Seattle failed to embrace the Seattle
Storm and give them anywhere near the same level of intensity &
support that they give to the Sounders? Is it because "SOCCER" &
and not basketball is the hipster sport of choice? The Storm now
have THREE WNBA Titles and the Sounders have exactly one MLS
Cup Title. Do Seattle's white male hipsters hate liberal Black & White
lesbian women? Do Seattle's white female hipsters hate Black & White
liberal lesbian women? The Sounders average 40,000 per game and
the The Storm average 8,000 per game.
The attendance disparity therefore places a PREMIUM on the game-
day experience & revenues. Ticket sales, parking, concessions, mer-
chandise & LOCAL t.v. deals. MLS & the WNBA both began operations
in 1996. Both leagues have failed to achieve Major League status. Can
anyone present a plausible scenario that can/will catapult the WNBA to
at least MLS revenue levels?
FYI - In my years of reading, more than a few MLS fans have verbally
POOPED on the WNBA. I do not have the data, but I am very confident
that the FAN demographics of MLS and the WNBA are very similar if not
EXACTLY the same. LIBERAL & WHITE. The only question is; which lea-
gue attracts more hipsters?
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You should come to a Dallas wings game next summer.
_________________ 3-Time WNBA Champion-3-Time National Champion-4-Time Olympic Champion....And Yes DT "We Got Confeti" lol
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Nixtreefan
Joined: 14 Nov 2012 Posts: 2539
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rykhala
Joined: 15 Oct 2009 Posts: 286 Location: Temecula, CA
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Posted: 10/03/18 2:24 pm ::: |
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Where is that "mute" button?
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mb1
Joined: 09 Feb 2006 Posts: 4691 Location: Scottsdale,AZ,USA
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Posted: 10/03/18 5:11 pm ::: |
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Prior to the last WNBA Presidential hire, I advocated for the hire of Jay Parry or Amber Cox, and will renew the call. Michelle Obama, what've you got going these days?
Now, I will toss up to names and advocate for the second:
Dawn Hudson
Pamela El.
_________________ I've got a crush on Rebby!
LONG LIVE THE WNBA!
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DFWub2018
Joined: 24 Aug 2018 Posts: 1047 Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth
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Posted: 10/03/18 6:51 pm ::: |
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WNBA 09 is correct, that may be the case in most WNBA markets, but it is certainly NOT the case here in Dallas/Ft. Worth!!! In fact, the only team in this market that would fit that stigma would be the Stars of the NHL, that's about it.
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wbj
Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 10
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Posted: 10/03/18 6:58 pm ::: |
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Those of us on the inside knew what a disaster she would be from day one, all while taking public credit for anything positive and blaming others for anything negative....sadly this has been her story for decades....and she has a knack for jumping to the next opportunity after 2-3 years to avoid accountability....only took the NBA senior staff about six months or less to figure out there was nothing behind the image.....let’s hope they hire Jay or Amber or Kristen or Sienko.....
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tfan
Joined: 31 May 2010 Posts: 9544
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Posted: 10/03/18 9:26 pm ::: |
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The lack of growth in league "success" could be why both Richie and Borders are no longer WNBA president, as much as any alleged personal shortcomings. Silver said something a few years ago when Richie was the president that went something like "we're not where we thought we would be at this point". And since then 2017 was a new ESPN ratings low for viewership (can't find anything for 2018 besides the ESPN ratings starting out strong compared to record low 2017) and announced attendance is not increasing. That is partly driven by smaller arenas, but even if you exclude the Liberty, announced attendance was down 6% in 2018. Although sponsorship money and ESPN money has probably risen.
Or, if it was Borders choice to get out - it's easy to see why. The players are on twitter and giving interviews talking about how they should be making more money while the league is not growing in popularity and no one wants to buy a team in the largest market in the country that the owner wants to get rid of.
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myrtle
Joined: 02 May 2008 Posts: 32326
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Posted: 10/03/18 11:43 pm ::: |
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we need a hard drinking privileged white frat boy from Yale.
_________________ For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
- Amanda Gorman
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bballgrl
Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 3629
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Posted: 10/03/18 11:50 pm ::: |
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Well here we go again with needing another new president. Everyone talks about viewership being low. Thanks to ESPN tv viewership is low because not many games are being shown on tv. If more games were shown viewership would be higher. League Pass is another option but not everyone can afford that. Not to mention that this year it was more expensive than last year. The league could make more money if there were more than 12 teams in 52 states. I am an avid fan but no longer have a team in my city(Cleveland, Ohio). I am a senior and can not afford to hop all around the states to see a game even tho I'd love to.
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tfan
Joined: 31 May 2010 Posts: 9544
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Posted: 10/04/18 12:41 am ::: |
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pilight wrote: |
The W needs a president with a sports background |
Anne Meyers-Drysdale
Nancy Lieberman
Cynthia Cooper-Dyke
Fred Williams
Carol Ross
Sue Wicks
Kym Hampton
Taj McWilliams-Franklin
Jennifer Gillom
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bcdawg04
Joined: 12 Apr 2016 Posts: 562 Location: Seattle
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Posted: 10/04/18 12:49 am ::: |
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rykhala wrote: |
Where is that "mute" button? |
Yes, please. He's begging for a response with every post and showing off his ignorance.
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Randy
Joined: 08 Oct 2011 Posts: 10911
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Posted: 10/04/18 6:33 am ::: |
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Quote: |
“The WNBA has lost a significant amount of money in each of its prior 21 years of existence,” a WNBA spokesperson told SB Nation. A person familiar with the situation elaborated, expecting the league to lose $12 million in the 2018 season alone. |
https://www.sbnation.com/wnba/2018/10/3/17928876/wnba-president-search-lisa-borders-leaving
If true - this means the WNBA would only break even if they paid the players nothing. Of course, some teams probably make money while others lose it and the veracity of the number is unknown. Still with franchises having little or no value, teams moving to smaller arenas, and in the case of the Dream - the home for next season is still up in he air, there are a lot of concerns the new prez will have to deal with. It may be that Borders felt her seat getting warm and decided to move on.
I think the league needs more than anything a promoter who can figure out how to get more fans in the stands (if that is even possible.)
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