WNBA expansion

[KnightBridgeAZ]

It may add a jarring note to this discussion, but I just went looking for data on the demographics of the WNBA fan base and the best I could do was Adam Silver on ESPN's "Get Up" show recently bemoaning that the target audience they should be reaching is young women age 21-34, while the real audience is old men like me.

Fact is, women are just not all that into sports unless you smother it in tailgates and a lot of very hunky men. If you pan the audience of any UConn game, particularly in Hartford, you see very, very many of the audience are old guys and old gals, and many of the old gals are there to assure the old guy will find his car at the end of the game.

I don't know whether gay/straight has any impact and it is not a topic that the league or media want to touch.

Old folks are a significant part of the audience in almost all college sports. It is well represented in football and men's basketball crowds, there just are more of other folks. The other sports, lots of gray, you could say. We went to a lot of away games when we were based in NJ and it was true at virtually every school. At Rutgers, a lot of the fans we knew 20 years ago have passed or cannot get to games anymore and they have been replaced by other old folks.

That said, that was not the demographic of the pro games I have attended. I think it is difficult for older folks to necessarily get themselves to the pro arenas, and I think a down side to it is that they probably are not going to spend a lot of side money on concessions and merchandise.

Gay / Straight- if you mean the players, doesn't have any impact with me. Some are, some are most certainly not. As to audience, at least when I have attended games, there is a "higher than in the general population" number of gay females, but that doesn't mean there is an army more of them that want to attend.

 

[Triad]

I’m one of those that cries “solidify what you have”. I love the WNBA, but nearly every person I’ve talked to has either been indifferent to it or thinks women’s basketball is boring. It’s unfortunate that so many people shun the women’s game and choose instead to make fun of those talented, hard working women, but that’s still where so many people are at. With the teams (6?) that have already folded, I doubt the WNBA is leaping at the chance to expand until more—if not all—teams turn a profit year after year. Still, Megan Gustafson is a great basketball player and a good person so I imagine she’ll have overseas opportunities and might be able to make a roster in the future as she develops her game.

I love UConn and NCAA WBB teams. Like the NBA the WNBA has not one second of my desires. That certain something College ball has holds my interest and the W does not. They don't pay because they don't have FAN or TV viewers. MONEY makes ever venture work or not work in this case it doesn't work.

 

[Triad]

Old folks are a significant part of the audience in almost all college sports. It is well represented in football and men's basketball crowds, there just are more of other folks. The other sports, lots of gray, you could say. We went to a lot of away games when we were based in NJ and it was true at virtually every school. At Rutgers, a lot of the fans we knew 20 years ago have passed or cannot get to games anymore and they have been replaced by other old folks.

That said, that was not the demographic of the pro games I have attended. I think it is difficult for older folks to necessarily get themselves to the pro arenas, and I think a down side to it is that they probably are not going to spend a lot of side money on concessions and merchandise.

Gay / Straight- if you mean the players, doesn't have any impact with me. Some are, some are most certainly not. As to audience, at least when I have attended games, there is a "higher than in the general population" number of gay females, but that doesn't mean there is an army more of them that want to attend.

I don't ask a player for their preferences in beer, food, or otherwise. I watch a player not a preference. Yout analysis of the GRAY is accurate. I too attended games in the Brown facility tiny but adequate. Some fun games there. Went to a lot at Gampel, Nova,
I honestly can't say if the greater popluation there was Gray or Green. I like College games because of the KIDs/Students--crazy kid fans are great.

 

[Triad]

Do any WNBA teams actually make money? A team like the CT Sun are used as loss leader for a casino which is fine, but ...

I get the idea that we all want to support a professional league, and pay the players, but the reality is this is a capitalist society and the bottom line is red ink. The NBA did a good job supporting the league but it only goes so far.

Even in a Socialistic society if the 5 year plan fails they are gone. MONEY even in the Soviet plan needed to meet expectations--they gave it 5 years a few times. Seems like the W has had multiple 5 years in the PLAN.

 

[Dokey]

That 21-34 female demographic Adam Silver wants goes to whatever sporting event their male partner likes, like it or not, and that event will be men playing. Females don't take men to female games as a rule. Ironically, female athletes have long been at the point of the lance in feminism and yet they have to beg their sisters to support them. So when I call for expansion I am also calling for different marketing. Personally, I prefer the women's game to the men's. It seems closer to the original concept and--I can hear the roar of protest--the dunk bores me to tears, as is the whole concept of playing above the rim. We watch giants play a game designed for scrawny kids with a basket that remains at 10 feet. There is a lot of talk on this site about the need for a big--a big is the reason why Liberty lost last night when leading by one point with 7 seconds left--and I accept it but I don't have to like it.

 

[Pinhead]

That 21-34 female demographic Adam Silver wants goes to whatever sporting event their male partner likes, like it or not, and that event will be men playing. Females don't take men to female games as a rule. Ironically, female athletes have long been at the point of the lance in feminism and yet they have to beg their sisters to support them. So when I call for expansion I am also calling for different marketing. Personally, I prefer the women's game to the men's. It seems closer to the original concept and--I can hear the roar of protest--the dunk bores me to tears, as is the whole concept of playing above the rim. We watch giants play a game designed for scrawny kids with a basket that remains at 10 feet. There is a lot of talk on this site about the need for a big--a big is the reason why Liberty lost last night when leading by one point with 7 seconds left--and I accept it but I don't have to like it.

Agree with all your points, most notably "giants play a game designed for scrawny kids". IMO the 10' rim is just the start. As athletes have become so large and can cover the length of the court in just a handful of strides, the men's game has outgrown the entire playing venue. While a stretch, I'll make an analogy to hockey. The international rink size is larger than the NHL rink and I'd argue that the speed and skill of the NHL game is long overdue to adopt the international standard. Of course, to change the playing size of either sport's setting would be daunting to say the least. On the other hand, as the BB court is often overlaid on the ice surface in many venues, maybe it wouldn't be so far-fetched to overhaul both games at once. Perhaps an absurd idea, but men's BB "bores me to tears" too!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

That 21-34 female demographic Adam Silver wants goes to whatever sporting event their male partner likes, like it or not, and that event will be men playing. Females don't take men to female games as a rule. Ironically, female athletes have long been at the point of the lance in feminism and yet they have to beg their sisters to support them. So when I call for expansion I am also calling for different marketing. Personally, I prefer the women's game to the men's. It seems closer to the original concept and--I can hear the roar of protest--the dunk bores me to tears, as is the whole concept of playing above the rim. We watch giants play a game designed for scrawny kids with a basket that remains at 10 feet. There is a lot of talk on this site about the need for a big--a big is the reason why Liberty lost last night when leading by one point with 7 seconds left--and I accept it but I don't have to like it.

I'm agreeing with a post liked by someone whose handle is Pinhead! Anyway, I agree right up to the last point about Bigs. Go ask Gabby how much she enjoyed being our Big in a Big world. In her senior year she admitted how exhausting it was and how good it was to finally get some help (Z). There is a definite correlation between rebounds snagged and height and, with good bigs, field goal percentage. The fact that we cannot seem to get one doesn't mean Geno, CD and Co. aren't trying and don't want at least one. We may kid about this in a thread or two, but it merely hides our Bigs Insecurity Syndrome.

 

[Sargassoc]

Rocky Mountain High (Colorado)?