RebKell's Junkie Boards

[huskiemaniac]

I was an ABL fan. It played hoop in the winter, as intended by The Lord Dr. Naismith.

At that time, I hated the rival W and its summer time let's-do-something-w/-our-empty-NBA-arenas bankroll.

25 "count 'em" yrs later... The W is still a part-time league and gets interrupted by the Summer Olympics. It still waits for players to return from their overseas "real" commitments at the start of every season.

Women's pro basketball remains a niche sport in the U.S.

Could the W survive the winter? I don't know, but I wish it would play during "normal" basketball season. Over the course of the college hoop season there are many nights with no women's basketball on TV. I know I would watch the W if it were offered.

So, my "Olympic problem" solution: play during the winter.

[pilight]

Ideally basketball would be a part of the Winter Olympics, as it was designed specifically to be a winter sport and is predominantly played in that season.

As for the ABL, it's fairly instructive as to what we would likely see if the W moved to a winter schedule, i.e. the league would cease to exist in short order.

_________________
I'm a lonely frog
I ain't got a home

[Shades]

Seeing that such a change couldn’t be made before around 2027, if they started planning for it now, a change to a longer winter schedule could work.

Let’s say they double the amount of games. Then ESPN and the like should pay at least double what they are now, seeing that the respect and interest in women’s basketball seems to be growing, and these media outlets have been underpaying for years. Doubling the current salaries could be enough to pull it off. There’s a handful of the biggest stars that already don’t play overseas (Diggins, Delle Donne, Wilson, I’m sure there’s more). I think you guys underestimate how lucrative are some of these endorsement deals and what these players value. Older players are choosing WNBA over overseas. They definitely value playing in the WNBA, and maybe their lucrative endorsement deals require it.

Along with a winter schedule, I’d like to see an expansion to at least 16 teams, so more areas have local teams, driving additional demand for media coverage.

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Nnekalonians 1:14 - Thou shalt not accept that which is not earned

[justintyme]

[undersized_post]

[ClayK]

The WNBA in winter:

1) Would ESPN (or any network) rather show the NBA or the WNBA? Which gets better ratings?

2) Would ESPN (or any network) rather show college men's basketball or the WNBA? Which gets better ratings?

The answer to those two questions are obvious, and so not only is it unlikely ESPN would pay more for WNBA rights, it would likely pay less.

That said, if the NCAA disappears and college sports fall apart, the window of opportunity in the winter does get bigger.

Another aspect is the range of sports that draw national interest in the summer as opposed to late fall and winter. Baseball is a regional sport with poor ratings, and that's the biggest consistent competition for the WNBA in the summer. In the late fall and early winter, there's football as well as the NBA and men's basketball. The WNBA would now be competing with the NHL for attention rather than one-off events like Wimbledon or Eurocup.

At this point, the two main sources of in-person attendance for the WNBA are the LGBTQ+ population and families with young daughters who play basketball. The latter group is less likely to go to the games in the winter because of conflicts with school teams and going to school. And of course there is a minor overlap with college women's basketball fans, not all of whom would choose the WNBA.

Now maybe there's a way to make the WNBA work in the winter, but it seems to me it is a less attractive TV product in the winter and would lose some of its attendance base. And of course if the overseas teams pay more, the stars would be forced to make business decisions about where to play.

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Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā

[FrozenLVFan]

Speaking as someone who lives "up north" and has 6 months of snow, ice, and frigid misery to look forward to every year, I'd probably watch at least 50% more WNBA games than I do now if they were played in the winter. I'd even consider taking a long weekend and going someplace warm where I could see a game in person. But there's no way I'll ever watch a game on a summer afternoon, those days are just too short.

There are so many obscure factors that affect viewership that I think it's hard to generalize.

[Silky Johnson]

[ClayK]

Just to be clear:

As one who went to high school when girls' sports was one day a year ... something called GAA -- and as one of the first sportwriters to cover girls' high school basketball -- I have watched since ground zero.

And to have imagined, at the birth of Title IX, that 4,500 people would spend their hard-earned money to watch women play professional basketball night-in and night-out would have been sheerest fantasy.

The accomplishments of the WNBA are impressive, without question, as the league has carved out a home in the crowded marketplace of American sports, and the hard work of coaches, players, owners and league employees has paid off more than old folks like me could have ever thought possible.

At the same time, though, I think it's important to balance the pride with reality, and though you take my post as "shots at the WNBA," I don't see it that way. For me, that's the way things are right now. Maybe they'll change in the future; maybe they won't -- but the WNBA and those who built it deserve all the respect and credit available. The road has been long, and if it ends with the aforementioned 4,500 people supporting 12 WNBA franchises -- or crowds of 20,000 screaming for 24 franchises -- the destination is still so far from its starting point that it stands as an almost literally incredible achievement.

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Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā

[Silky Johnson]

[justintyme]

[myrtle]

I agree that a Winter schedule would bring additional challenges. You could have a much longer season I guess which might give you time to fit games here and there around all the other sports happening, but it would be a hodgepodge.

I do think that having so many games crammed into a short time frame as we do in Summer, and especially when avoiding the Olys, is detrimental to the players' health. No team should have to play 4 games in 7 days for instance. It simply should not happen. But that's a bit OT and how to avoid it is another question. I'm inclined to think in Olympic years, if they are going to continue with the extra long break, that the number of games should be reduced. Not as few as in the bubble, but say by six games - just play the OOC teams twice instead of three times - that would reduce some of the stress.

[pilight]

[Silky Johnson]

[mercfan3]

I think it’s fine the way it is.

Yeah, there are drawbacks - but the women’s US Olympic team gets more press than the WNBA, and it always feels like that bleeds into the second half of the WNBA season.

There are certainly some drawbacks (players missing time), but I think the media exposure makes it not worth worrying about as much.

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“Anyone point out that a Donald Trump anagram is ‘Lord Dampnut’”- Colin Mochrie

[justintyme]

[ClayK]

> I challenged the motives behind why he said it.

Seriously? Hey, I know I come across badly sometimes, and I can understand negative reactions ...

Do you really think I have an anti-WNBA agenda? Anti-women's basketball? Anti-women's sports?

I was just going to let this go, but that stings (which is what you want, I guess). Is there a purity test I need to pass? Is there some code I didn't live up to? Do I need to do more for the game?

#HateHard is fun, in a way, but do you want to drive people away from this forum? Away from discussing the sport unless they agree with you?

You do your part as well, and maybe it was just a bad morning (and maybe it's just a bad morning for me), but still ... that was a bitter pill to swallow.

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Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā

[Davis4632]

[Davis4632]

Double Post.

[Silky Johnson]

[myrtle]

[Shades]

[ClayK]

[pilight]

[Silky Johnson]