The WNBA Doesn’t Need Fixing
… We do.
I’ve now come to the unfortunate realization that there is a consistent and conscious effort by some individuals to bring “down” the WNBA whenever there is any remote sign of positive momentum or success. For some reason, in spite of an undeniably progressive season, there are those that still choose (don’t kid yourself, it is a choice) to focus on how far behind the WNBA is in related to other professional leagues rather than highlight any inkling of advancement.
There is absolutely no refuting that 2009 was a monumental year for the WNBA or that the league itself had a substantial amount of victories. Admittedly, these might be “small” by comparison but for a league that has struggled to gain widespread acceptance for 13 years, any amount of success and progress should be notable.
I came across an article by Josh Levin for Slate that illustrates perfectly what I’m speaking of. In it, Levin argues that in spite of well documented increases in ratings, viewers, attendance, and coverage that the WNBA is a faltering league and needs “fixing.”
Instead, what really needs to be fixed is us.
Levin’s assertion isn’t ground-breaking or revolutionary by any means, and one we’ve all heard before. However, Levin seemingly ignores the momentum the WNBA has gained after 2009 and states that, in reality, there is “little evidence the WNBA is primed for mainstream success” and that he can think of two ways to “fix” this (apparently) broken league.
1. Ignore the male fan base completely and solely market to the female, gay and lesbian community.
2. Or, simply “appease” the male fan base and adopt the rules of the now defunct Liberty Basketball Association.
Now, at first glance, you might not have any glaring issues with the above options. However, according to the rules of the Liberty Basketball Association, the women in the league would wear skin-tight (and see-through) uniforms that were incredibly revealing, play on a shortened basketball court, and lower the rims to a height of 9-2 with the idea being to entice “real men” (I use this term loosely as my definition of a man is far different) into watching the league. By having women play virtually in lingerie, on a shortened rim and court, the theory is that more men would watch or pay attention. Thus, leading to an increase in the male fan base that the WNBA (as Levin describes) are apparently so desperately longing for.
Levin’s whole premise is based on points that are false; and (as we learned is Psychology 101) correlation does not mean causation.
To begin, he argues that the WNBA is failing. I do suppose it depends on your objective definition of the word; it’s no secret the WNBA has never been a cash cow or that franchises are losing money, but it’s also well-documented that the net losses are improving. Levi
n twists examples in his favor such as the “thousands” of tickets that were bought to fill up the upper deck in Indiana and Phoenix for the WNBA Finals as negative and making light of the huge rating increases (upwards of 40 percent) for ESPN2. He also talks about the Detroit Shock moving to Tulsa and how it’s a sign that the WNBA is failing as a whole. Somehow, Levin ignores the fact that the city of Detroit is in an insane amount of hurt and that all the professional sports teams in that city aren’t exactly rolling in dough. More importantly, there is a clear twisting of facts going on here and it saddens me. The amount of progress the league has made in 2009 should be regarded as triumphant. Instead, it’s become (once again) material for fodder.
Second, Levin suggests that in order to gain that type of popularity and acceptance among men (he believes the WNBA needs them to thrive), the WNBA should change their marketing strategy entirely. Either ignore the men and promote the league (as Levin states) to it’s already vast fan base of women, gays, and lesbians or “appease” the men by throwing a bikini on the players in hopes the men they need so dearly (yes, that statement was dripping with sarcasm) will ’save’ the league. Not only should this be incredibly offensive to anyone with a heart, but it’s naive to think that the WNBA stays up at night drumming up ways to be “good enough” for men. Their philosophy that eventually the viewers will come, and that slowly but surely they’ll gain acceptance, stems from their complete and unwavering confidence in their product on the court. They’ve never tried to be something they’re not or entice viewers on a false premise. They’ve been happy with the product, believe in it, and promote that belief.
Though, to be fair, Levin isn’t alone in this belief. Even ESPN’s own Bill Simmons, as Levin states, made light of his own network’s coverage of the WNBA Finals via Twitter saying, “Tweets you won’t see tonight - Flip over to ESPN2, the 4th quarter of the climactic WNBA Finals game is on right now!” Clearly, Simmons is arrogant and ignorant enough to think that a statement like that is funny, and obviously didn’t watch the series. I can’t tell you the amount of people I’ve spoken with personally, or have emailed me, to say how impressed and amazed they were of not only the Finals but of the quality of the league as a whole. Again, it’s funny what having an open mind and thinking rationally can do for people.
The point that Levin, Simmons, and millions of others perpetually miss and overlook is that it’s not the league that needs fixing! Collectively, it’s run extremely well, increasing in coverage and popularity, and promotes a brilliant product. What really needs to change (and unfortunately, probably won’t) is our (by ‘our’ and ‘we’ I mean society as a whole) preconceived notions which are too many to list - and I’m not speaking of men’s preconceived notions only. As Levin continues, he regurgitates the typical mantra that the WNBA isn’t as exciting as the NBA. “For all the people like John Wooden who enthuse over the superior fundamentals of the women’s game,” Levin states, “there are thousands more who focus on what women can’t do on the court. Dunking is not all there is to basketball—as your high school coach used to say, a slam is worth just as many points as a layup. But it’s also true that nobody pays $1,000 for courtside seats to watch a layup line.” Once again, Levin tries to find a correlation where there isn’t one. Ignorant statements like this only propel the belief that the WNBA is made up of women who can only make uncontested “layups” and that their game is both uneventful and disenchanting.
If fact, here’s a shocker for you — the WNBA doesn’t need male fans to survive! Rather, it simply needs true basketball fans. I’m not sure where the belief came from that the WNBA is so desperate and starving over attaining traditional male followers, but it’s simply not true. They’ve never had a marketing strategy that is focused on that. It’s always been focused on the quality of play, the competition being ferocious, and that these ladies are damn good.
I’ve stated before that I will, without hesitation, play the “true fan card” if you love the NBA and knock the WNBA. Quite simply, there is nothing to dislike about the WNBA. Sure the flash and aura may be different than the NBA but that doesn’t mean it has less or that it’s worse. For the WNBA to survive, true basketball fans will need to come out and support it. Please note 
– I said basketball fans, not men who watch it out of pity or as a consolation. Unfortunately, we’re probably not going to change deep seeded beliefs that are ingrained in those men’s minds, but the WNBA doesn’t need them or want them.
In my humble opinion, the true basketball fans are starting to come around as evidenced by the insanely strong display of respect and and love for the 2009 WNBA Finals. Don’t believe me? Ask anyone who was in the building for each of those five games — the crowd was just as hyped and attentive as any professional sports environment you’ll experience.
The clear fact of the matter is there is a misunderstanding of the WNBA in terms of the actual game. For whatever reason, people think they’ll see a similar display of 1 on 1 brilliance that they observe by the Kobe’s or Dwyane’s of the NBA. Instead, what they see are some one-on-ones but mostly structured, definitive team basketball; and that irks people who enjoy seeing an NBA player put up 25 shots on isolation’s in order to get their nightly 30 points. Sure, in the midst of that process we’ll see them do some unbelievable things but that’s not the type of basketball that is played in the WNBA. Anyone who refutes the fundamentalism of the WNBA has clearly not spent time watching the league.
It’s different, and that’s scary to some. The proverbial first step is simply stop trying to compare it to the NBA. The WNBA is unique, features a different but equally as exciting product, and doesn’t need men to justify it’s existence or as a means of approval.
Embrace it, people. It’s not going anywhere.
For those that choose not to (there we go again with that ‘choice’ word) that’s fine. Just know that you’re missing out and it’s not the WNBA’s problem.
The WNBA is not failing. We are.
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I’ve been watching the WNBA since its conception, 1997. I was 7yrs old!!
I am a real basketball fan, plain and simple. From the Cynthia Cooper, Teresa Weatherspoon era to the Diana Taurasi, Tamika Catchings era of now, Every year the League gets better, and if you don’t recognize any of those names, or have never seen them play, I feel sorry for you.
I think the reason people disregard the WNBA as a joke, is because they hear about how the W is about fundamentals, and does not have the athleticism, and thats how you can weed out the “real basketball fans” from the “basketball fans”. A real basketball fan understands,and see’s the real beauty of fundamentals, whereas the regular bball fan seems to view the”fundamentals” a negative thing. Fundamentals for non-true basketball fans, bring up images of plain lay-ups and sets-hots from the shoulder. If that is your definition of Fundamentals, i feel sorry for you. and if you missed the WNBA Finals this year, I feel very very sorry for you, it was a lot better than the Lakers-Magic finals. the true basketball fans will continue to appreciate the Deanna Nolans, Katie Smiths,Katie Douglass’s, Candice Wiggins, Candace Parker, Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, Cappie Pondexter, Betty Lennox, Lauren Jackson, Becky Hammon,,on and on…so many great players!!!!
“1. Ignore the male fan base completely and solely market to the female, gay and lesbian community.” so by specifying gay and lesbian are we to assume the WNBA sees the gay male fanbase as a target? Cos that would be drawing a very long bow.
Does that mean I’m not a true basketball fan? I don’t know.
btw are you going to be like the last WNBA guy and delete any comments that werent complimentary towards the league?
the client never needs fixing - if the customer is not buying the product then it needs to be changed (either tangibly or intangibly)” Really? Interesting argument! So back when a lot of White folks wouldn’t eat at a restaurant where Black people were also served, there was something wrong with the restaurant? They should have changed, made Black people eat elsewhere to make those White customers happy? According to your philosophy that is exactly what they should have done. Sometimes the clients/customers are just ignorant schmucks who can’t accept change and can’t get past their ridiculous preconceptions.
Your argument was really, really bad. Just bad. That race thing really didn’t work in that situation.
Honestly, if the WNBA feels they can be successful selling what they have right now, then they should sell that. If they think it’s impossible to sell the league the way it is now, they should change things.
I think it’s legitimate to ask how they can market the league more to men, the same way black people ahve to worry about marketing themselves to white folks when they want a job. It may not be fair, but it’s reality. White folks got the jobs, men are the ones who spend the money on sports.
league where there are a fair few games in which neither team scores over 60 points, once again its not bad just plain and mildly entertaining
Thank you for your detailed response and thoughts - I love it!
I just wanted to thank you for your fantastic article. It was well said. I have been a WNBA season ticket holder for some time. I drive 2 hours each way, approximately 175 miles. It didn’t matter until gas was almost $5.00 a gallon! I grew up going to Lakers games but have migrated to the WNBA. I am a female and I am gay but what I love is the reasonable price and family friendly. I love to see the young girls and young boys whose faces light up when they meet a player they love. I love it that young girls can see that there can be a career as an athlete and have role models. I love it that those role models can make mistakes and feel a responsibility to their fans. Thsi year I was so convinced Taurasi’s offense would completely run over Cath’s defense that the show would be embarrassing. It was such a good lesson for me to see “defense is as good as a good offense” This year the finals were so exciting. I’m looking forward to 2010 & seeing Baylor and I get to go to San Antonio. I love seeing men at the games but wheather they’re there or not doesn’t matter to me. I want the athletes to get the respect they deserve and it would be terrific if they could get better pay. Thanks for a terrific article!
Thank you so much for your comments. Hope to see you at a game!
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