WNBA Players are Overpaid

[SVCBeercats]

"Fairfield Fan, post: 2780088, member: 6911" This is about marketing. The NBA appears to have no interest in marketing, promoting, and expanding its WNBA business. This seems to be for the NBA what electric cars have been to Detroit: something they feel they have to do for PR purposes, but which interferes with their main business: for Detroit- selling gas cars, and for the NBA- marketing its male league. Tend to agree. Somewhere I read the creation of the WNBA by the NBA was to attract women to basketball, NBA basketball. Think about it. Companies try their darnedest to not create a product which will cannibalize one or more of its existing highly profitable products. So why would the NBA create the WNBA? Certainly not to lose any part of its lucrative NBA audience to the WNBA? Not a chance. It hurts the NBA and its owners bottomline. Why else would the NBA brass strongly suggest the WNBA go after the lesbian demographic? While the WNBA can't seem to connect with the 18-34 demographic, the NBA is connecting quite well.
NBA national ratings are on the rise, thanks to younger viewers

 

[the Q]

"Fairfield Fan, post: 2780088, member: 6911" This is about marketing. The NBA appears to have no interest in marketing, promoting, and expanding its WNBA business. This seems to be for the NBA what electric cars have been to Detroit: something they feel they have to do for PR purposes, but which interferes with their main business: for Detroit- selling gas cars, and for the NBA- marketing its male league. Tend to agree. Somewhere I read the creation of the WNBA by the NBA was to attract women to basketball, NBA basketball. Think about it. Companies try their darnedest to not create a product which will cannibalize one or more of its existing highly profitable products. So why would the NBA create the WNBA? Certainly not to lose any part of its lucrative NBA audience to the WNBA? Not a chance. It hurts the NBA and its owners bottomline. Why else would the NBA brass strongly suggest the WNBA go after the lesbian demographic? While the WNBA can't seem to connect with the 18-34 demographic, the NBA is connecting quite well.
NBA national ratings are on the rise, thanks to younger viewers

Exactly.

The WNBA keeps girls interested in basketball and thus the NBA product.

 

[the Q]

This is about marketing. The NBA appears to have no interest in marketing, promoting, and expanding its WNBA business. This seems to be for the NBA what electric cars have been to Detroit: something they feel they have to do for PR purposes, but which interferes with their main business: for Detroit- selling gas cars, and for the NBA- marketing its male league.

These are amazing athletes. A good marketing exec, armed with an enthusiastic league and franchise structure, could really take this sport to town! So it's not about salaries today, but how the league could be expanded (including getting far more TV coverage- what is with ESPN's all-day coverage of male summer league games?!?).

Just think how women's tennis has expanded and compensation taken into the stratosphere. It can happen with women's basketball, too.

you mean by taking from the men?

 

[meyers7]

"Never doubt that a small group of bored people bitching on the internet can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has."

I don't know if I nailed that quote word for word but I'm pretty sure that's the sense of it.

Oh, yea, Ms Margaret Mead.

 

[j66kicker]

Tend to agree. Somewhere I read the creation of the WNBA by the NBA was to attract women to basketball, NBA basketball. Think about it. Companies try their darnedest to not create a product which will cannibalize one or more of its existing highly profitable products. So why would the NBA create the WNBA? Certainly not to lose any part of its lucrative NBA audience to the WNBA? Not a chance. It hurts the NBA and its owners bottomline. Why else would the NBA brass strongly suggest the WNBA go after the lesbian demographic? While the WNBA can't seem to connect with the 18-34 demographic, the NBA is connecting quite well.
NBA national ratings are on the rise, thanks to younger viewers

The WNBA doesn't play during basketball season, so how could it cannablize the NBA's audience?

 

[SVCBeercats]

The WNBA doesn't play during basketball season, so how could it cannablize the NBA's audience?

Unlike the US Government who can just print more more money, people only have so much disposable money. If they spend it in the summer on WNBA seats it won't be there for the NBA seats in the winter. If they buy WNBA shirts, caps, and geegaws, they won't have the money to buy NBA shirts, caps, and geegaws. Parking isn't usually free. Concessions cost money. All this adds up and subtracts from the NBA.

 

[j66kicker]

Unlike the US Government who can just print more more money, people only have so much disposable money. If they spend it in the summer on WNBA seats it won't be there for the NBA seats in the winter. If they buy WNBA shirts, caps, and geegaws, they won't have the money to buy NBA shirts, caps, and geegaws. Parking isn't usually free. Concessions cost money. All this adds up and subtracts from the NBA.

Gotcha. But in terms of just ticket affordability it’s apples & oranges. WNBA games are very affordable. I can always find Mercury tix pretty close to the floor for $25-30. (Not to mention that, even in Phoenix where attendance is 1st or 2nd in the league, scalpers are selling the tons of free promo tix outside the arena for below face value.)

But see how close $200-300 will get you for an NBA game.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Gotcha. But in terms of just ticket affordability it’s apples & oranges. WNBA games are very affordable. I can always find Mercury tix pretty close to the floor for $25-30. (Not to mention that, even in Phoenix where attendance is 1st or 2nd in the league, scalpers are selling the tons of free promo tix outside the arena for below face value.)

But see how close $200-300 will get you for an NBA game.

I have tickets to tonight's Sun game. Corner tickets were $54 at the box office. I think they are $70+ from ticketmaster.

 

[the Q]

Gotcha. But in terms of just ticket affordability it’s apples & oranges. WNBA games are very affordable. I can always find Mercury tix pretty close to the floor for $25-30. (Not to mention that, even in Phoenix where attendance is 1st or 2nd in the league, scalpers are selling the tons of free promo tix outside the arena for below face value.)

But see how close $200-300 will get you for an NBA game.

It's not a good sign that the WNBA's only real sports competition over the summer is MLB (compared to the talk of moving it to the winter...) and it still can't do much.

 

[shizam]

I have tickets to tonight's Sun game. Corner tickets were $54 at the box office. I think they are $70+ from ticketmaster.

That's more than I thought tickets would be for a WNBA game.

 

[Roger G]

I had second row in Atlanta and I think it was $58,, if I remember correctly.

 

[triaddukefan]

I had second row in Atlanta and I think it was $58,, if I remember correctly.

Glad you survived your trip to Atlanta and the rough streets around Georgia Tech's arena

 

[Roger G]

Glad you survived your trip to Atlanta and the rough streets around Georgia Tech's arena

Actually, we barely did. We were pelted...with very heavy raindrops.