DT sounds off on the W

[eebmg]

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Can anyone name a women's professional team sport that was/is a money maker?

 

[Argonaut]

Perhaps the answer is to have the government subsidize the league with taxpayer monies. That would be fair. Think of it as reparations for having been born female.

It's a BUSINESS not a social experiment! If the product you are selling is so inferior that there is little demand and no profit, where is the money going to come from? Maybe Oprah?

I’d rather my tax dollars go to subsidizing the WNBA (amongst many other worthy recipients of my cashola) than to subsidizing big banks, big pharma, Wall Street, and the ilk.

 

[Trappa]

Hard to believe that it's just a couple of oligarchs who are propping up an unprofitable pro system. Too many teams are attracting too many top American players- and mid-ranking players- and their checks don't seem to be bouncing.

And yet...

As @RockyMTblue2 said, it’s apples and oranges. It’s not the same business model as American sports.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

So you pay the team stars/vets more? Where would the money come from. If most of the teams are in the red, how does paying top players more work? Maybe paying the other players even chumpier change than they are getting now? Maybe the real answer is for the W to switch to 3 on 3 basketball.

Can anyone name a women's professional team sport that was/is a money maker?

Yes, the USA women's national soccer team. Making millions!!! Documented!

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Exactly. There are women's teams from Israel to Russia to Shaanxi, China. And that list shows that almost all of the WNBA players play overseas- between 8-11 players per team. And let's keep in mind that if their overseas seasons overlap with the WNBA, these American players make sure to play out their contracts overseas before mozzying on back to the W.

Hard to believe that it's just a couple of oligarchs who are propping up an unprofitable pro system. Too many teams are attracting too many top American players- and mid-ranking players- and their checks don't seem to be bouncing.

Never-the-less. I have seen several television programs over the years where this has been discussed. It isn't (really) about the WBB teams, as someone said, it is the football. And sometimes the hockey. Maybe the men's basketball. Its for the pride of your company, or your town, or just to show your power. Or your team versus your rival, who may be from another country even. Sometimes, like in China as someone described, its political. And its good for the native players to be learning from the Americans. Incidentally, I don't think that the non-American players make the salaries of the Americans - who are generally limited to 2 per team, I believe, unless they can convince you to take a dual citizenship as some have.

Its complicated, but yes, in large part - and this is very well documented and continually denying it doesn't make it false - the WBB teams do not make money in Europe, and are not based on a cash profit model. It really is that simple. So unless you both get rid of the salary cap and convince someone that it is worth dumping money into the team to demonstrate superiority of LA or Seattle or where-ever to the rest of the WBB-verse, it will not be happening here.

 

[Shenandoah]

Injuries, foul trouble, fatigue ???

Geno only uses 6 or at the most, 7. He's done "okay" with it!

 

[JoePgh]

Geno only uses 6 or at the most, 7. He's done "okay" with it!

Please discontinue the repetition of this MYTH!!! Geno has done that in the last few years because that is as deep as his bench went, in terms of players who could play at approximately the level of the starters against tough competition. But when he has more talent available, more people will play. He showed that when he coached the Olympic teams, and also back in the days when he really did have nearly a bench full of all-Americans. Go back and look at 2000 and 2001, where he had nine players who could perform, and he played them all.