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The WNBA...is it worth it? (Women in sports)

Discussion in 'Archive: The Arena' started by PRENNTACULAR, Nov 17, 2006.

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  1. PRENNTACULAR

    PRENNTACULAR VIP star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2005
    I'm all for gender equity, but recently, after watching a WNBA game, I must say, I really don't like watching women play basketball...and judging by ticket sales and TV ratings, not many other people do either.

    So my question is this:

    What are your guys' thougts on the WNBA, and women in sports in general? It seems to me they have the right to have any league they want...but I've heard some people complaining that the WNBA isn't as popular as the NBA, and that was due to sexism. I disagree...it's due to the fact that the WNBA isn't as exciting as the NBA...

    Should women have their own sports?
    Should they be allowed to play in men dominated sports?
    Do they have a right to complain if their league isn't as popular as the men's league?

    This is obviously a big can of worms, so lets keep the discussion intelligent, relevant, and civil.;)

    Also, don't limit discussion to just these questions...they are simply there to get you guys started....
     
  2. George_Roper

    George_Roper Jedi Knight star 7

    Registered:
    May 1, 2005
    Sure it's worth it. People enjoy it. If they didn't those sports wouldn't be in business.

    Personally, I don't watch much women's sports because it's slower (etc) than the men's, but then again I don't really like watching MLS because it's doesn't have the same quality as the top leagues in Europe. I'll watch women's tennis but that's about it. It's really just a personal preference.

    I'd love to see Wie competing on the PGA on a consistent basis and doing well. I think it would be good for the game.
     
  3. DarthDogbert

    DarthDogbert Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2004
    Personally, I enjoy watching NCAA women's basketball, but that might be attributed to the fact that I went to Texas Tech which has a fairly large fan base for that. But the reason I haven't been able to get into women's pro sports is because it has nothing to distinguish itself from the collegiate level. With the men, the draw of the NCAA is the excitement of collegiate sports in general. With the NBA, you lose that brand of excitement, replacing it with the excitement of a superior and more intense product. With the WNBA, you also lose the collegiate excitement and fan base, but there's nothing new and unique to replace it with. Really, the only reason I see to have the WNBA is because I feel bad that they dedicated so much time to the sport in college without a payoff, but that will never be the basis for a profit-generating league.
     
  4. NorCalBirdz

    NorCalBirdz Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 28, 2004
    This became somewhat of an issue here when the Monarchs made the WNBA Finals the past two years. The paper gave it heavy front page coverage, but one of the columnists wrote a column that said the hits on the paper's website were practically non-existant and that nobody really seemed to care no matter how much they covered it. Of course letters from women flooded in accusing him of being sexist blah blah blah, completely ignoring the facts. Eventually the Bee toned down the coverage and more angry letters flooded in. I wrote back stating that newspapers are a business and like everything else exist to make money. If covering the WNBA were profitable for them, they would be doing it. They aren't, so obviously nobody cares about the WNBA. It got published in the paper, improving my written-letters-to-published-letters ratio to a perfect 3/3 :D
     
  5. imperial_dork

    imperial_dork Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2003
    I used to live two blocks from Key Arena, where the Seattle Storm (and Sonics) play. You'd hardly ever notice when there was a game, until they won the championship in 2004. But, then again, they seem to attract more fans than our WHL team. :p

    As a woman, I have to admit that I'm not really in favor of seeing women play in men's leagues. Mostly because, I think in team sports, it'd just be too much of a disruption in both team chemistry and in media focus. It just wouldn't be worth it.
     
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