It doesnt have the wow moments alley-oops, rim-rocking dunks that youll see even in an NBA preseason game. Team Wilson (Philippou): Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies.
WNBA's 25th Season: It's Time to Start Paying Attention - Sports Plus, my daughter and just about every other girl she knew who played basketball had to have one of those bright, multicolored WNBA basketballs. With the MLB having a few days off, the sports calendar doesn't have a ton happening. My top two players right now are Satou Sabally and Alanna Smith. Actually, I think it's in its 14th seasons of existence. Below, we are going to look into and discuss just why the WNBA is so boring and what changes the league can enact to help attract new fans and interest in the league. Victor Wembanyama (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images). And theres a whole new set of questions to go along with it. More than two decades later, the WNBA has just 12 franchises. So the WNBA is definitely swimming upstream in its battle. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Los Angeles' 81.4 points-per-game allowed is good for fifth-best in the WNBA. Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge.
Why increasing WNBA player salaries is more complex than you think WNBA star says women's basketball isn't popular because players are Simon Ateba has given the Biden administration a major headache.
Why The WBNA has no fans and How to Fix it I Does the WNBA - YouTube All Rights Reserved. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Team Wilson (Philippou): Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever. The higher percentage shot would have been Boston at the top of the key, or for Wheeler to wait until Boston or NaLyssa Smith were able to get in position. Philippou won. Since Thomas arrived in Connecticut in 2014, she has been an important piece but right now the team is in third place with a 13-5 record and he mounting a serious MVP campaign. Yes, they were women, and that's sort of cool.
Turn on any sports talk radio station, wade through the hours of debate-type shows on ESPN or FS1 during the summer months and youll hear a lot about the NBA which isnt in season and nothing about the WNBA, which is in season. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.
WNBA stars happy to be back in Las Vegas for All-Star weekend The Wings are coming off a big win over the No. Atlanta's 86.7 points per game is good for third in the WNBA behind only the Aces (93.9) and Liberty (87.4 . 20. Sparks forward Azur . Its unlikely ESPN would pay that much in the months when its already broadcasting NBA, college football and basketball games. "This has been an amazing year for the WNBA!" said the Rev . In the eighth inning, Diaz slugged a two-run home run off of Orioles closer Felix Bautista to give the National League the 3-2 lead and eventual win. 4. There has been expansion and relocation and contraction; blockbuster trades and highly touted No. 1. That's why I'm taking the under in this spot. Even LeBron says he hopes to become . The Storm clearly are rebuilding, so the expectation of Williams turning things around is a bit high. Experience and growth are the remedies. The only men's leagues close in comparison to the WNBA were the NBA and MLS, both earning A's this year for racial hiring practices.
2023 WNBA All-Star game: How to watch WNBA games this week - Yahoo Sports Currently, the WNBA is composed of twelve teams, with the regular season being played from the months of May through September, with the WNBA All Star game being held midway through the season. However, four of the seven do share a market with an NBA counterpart and the Washington Mystics and the Atlanta Dream do play in anNBA G Leaguearena. The teams played in NBA arenas, often with nicknames that were somewhat related to their NBA counterparts i.e., the Houston Rockets and Houston Comets, Charlotte Hornets and Charlotte Sting, Utah Jazz and Utah Starzz. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Voepel covers the WNBA, women's college basketball, and other college sports for espnW. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. What bothers me is the way he went about it. Voepel began covering women's basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996. You may opt out at anytime. There are other advantages for the WNBA holding the event in Las Vegas. With McCowan back in the mix, its hard not to look at this Dallas squad and think it has finally figured out what works. She can wreak havoc on the glass, can facilitate the break, and can get to the rim at will. ET, ABC/ESPN App). This got us at the Over & Back NBA Podcast thinking about the history of International #1 overall picks, how they fared in the league, why they were drafted #1 overall, did they live up to expectations, and more! The benefits of staying with the Aces outweighed the money. She said she always tries to watch the NBA Summer League when she has free time during the season,\ and said the proximity between the two events might help introduce more fans to the WNBA. While averaging roughly nine minutes behind rookie phenom Aliyah Boston, she averaged three points and four rebounds. During that dominant stretch, Las Vegas has been blowing teams out by an average margin of 21 points. They'll pick their squads on Saturday's All-Star Team Selection Special (1 p.m. A.T THINGSSSS @athomas_25 somehow gets it to go and has now racked up 11 PTS in the 1Q. However, digging deeper, and looking at the WNBAs initial motto of, We Got Next, the purpose of the WNBA was meant to elevate the womens sport of basketball past an afterthought and into the spotlight as a competitive, qualified, and equally entertaining league. The Sparks have lost five games in a row, and with upcoming games against Las Vegas, Minnesota and Dallas, its not going to be easy to turn things around. Nobody seems especially interested in the WNBA. Despite the substantial upheaval to the Connecticut Suns roster, the franchise made the right choice by choosing Alyssa Thomas as their centerpiece. "I couldn't tell you most of the teams in the league," says Russ Bengtson, the former editor of Slam magazine and as devoted a basketball junkie as the world knows. Why the WNBA isn't -- and will never be -- a popular league Jeff Pearlman Jun 16, 2010 I can present 1,000 pounds of the world's most delicious Swiss chocolate to my sofa, and it will never.
The Pros and Cons (Mostly Cons) of the WNBA - Richard Pennington Would the WNBA be more successful if it were played during traditional basketball season? Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast Archives: http://overandbacknba.com, Subscribe to Over and Back on Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/OB-Apple, Subscribe to Over and Back on Stitcher: http://bit.ly/OB-Stitcher, Subscribe to Over and Back on Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/OB-GooglePod, Subscribe to Over and Back on TuneIn Radio: http://bit.ly/OB-TuneIn, Subscribe to Over and Back on Spotify: http://bit.ly/OB-Spotify, Subscribe to Over and Back on YouTube: http://bit.ly/OB-YT, Follow Over and Back on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OverAndBackNBA, Follow Over and Back on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/OverAndBackNBA, Follow Over and Back on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@overandbacknba, Follow Over and Back on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/overandbacknba.bsky.social, Follow Over and Back on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/OverAndBackNBA. Currently, the WNBA is composed of twelve teams, with the regular season being played from the months of May through September, with the WNBA All Star game being held midway through the season. Per Front . I can hook up Gene Simmons with the best vocal coach humanity has to offer, and his singing won't improve. In its 21 seasons, there have been eight franchises that have won titles. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Regardless, Lena says she's seen a spike in profits on her OnlyFans after the encounter, adding her first-ever scene with someone other than Adam is something her fans have been begging for, and . The initial purpose of the WNBA was meant to attract and bring additional viewership to the womens sport. Many original WNBA teams have either folded or moved locations, many popular WNBA athletes have either retired or opted to play in different markets overseas, and many owners simply did not market the league properly to attract viewers and fans. It would be "offensive" to force stars to relearn the game and discredit those who can already dunk. But its hard to convert existing basketball fans in the U.S. to fans of womens professional basketball. To make matters worse, Dearica Hamby (ankle) and Karlie Samuelson (foot) recently suffered injuries. 1 picks. Last year,David Berri of Forbes.comcompared the WNBAs attendance after 20 years to that of the NBA and MLB in their first 20 years. High game viewership Already back in 2014, WNBA games had 659,000 viewers according to ESPN. On Team Stewart, Loyd (if her ankle is good to go) is leading the league in scoring and Collier has been on an offensive tear. The race to the World Series looks to be wide-open with teams like the Braves, Rangers, Rays, and many others hoping to make a deep run. If the WNBA cant attract fans with very little competition in the sports market, the odds are it wouldnt do much better when fans have more places to invest their money and attention. Prigozhin, an ex-convict, was once popular among prisoners and .
Lowering the Rim for Women's Basketball Dunks Is Dumb Here's Why Scott Kelnhofer is a writer for The Western Journal and Conservative Tribune. Few players in the league have been as impressive this season as Sabally, who, finally healthy for the most part, is having a career year and could be a lock for the Most Improved Player. Did we mention the ASG is about offense? 2023 ABG-SI LLC. As stated above, the initial purpose of the WNBA was meant to attract and bring additional viewership to the womens sport. The answer, however, is simple and, at this point, obvious: The majority of sports fans simply don't crave women's professional basketball. The MLS is taking advantage of the growing interest in soccer among U.S. fans. Plus, she's nicknamed "Point Gawd" for a reason; her passing seems to be getting more exciting in her ninth year in the league. Few would argue that basketball is followed by far more sports fans than soccer, so why has MLS enjoyed significant growth in 20 years while the WNBA hasnt? These biases, whether done consciously or not, were seen as a form of prejudice and implicit bias. Leave it to BG to try to be lighthearted about the fact she was an honorary All-Star last year while still being detained in Russia. And theres no reason to believe explosive growth is anywhere in the leagues short-term future. The Australia product is having a career year in Seattle alongside Loyd. Team Stewart (Voepel): Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx. Three of those teams no longer exist, including the Houston Comets, who won four straight titles in the leagues first four seasons. We follow the WNBA rules of Team Wilson (Philippou) going first in picking from the other eight starters, then Team Stewart (Voepel) picking first among the 12 reserves. No matter how many women dunk, no matter how incredible the playoff action might seem, no matter if the league expands to Las Vegas and Cancun and hires the cast members of Glee to hand out $100 bills to every customer, well, the WNBA is what it is -- a fringe entity. Shes almost making a strong case for Defensive Player of the Year as well.
Fan-made video game merch is often better than the real thing - Polygon However, the WNBA season is in full swing, and I've got a few picks for you on this Wednesday. Fans of Novak Djokovic were left disappointed on Sunday when, as it looked like the Serbian was romping to a straight-sets victory over world No. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Basketball is growing internationally, and many WNBA players go overseas when the WNBA is not in season and make more than they make in the U.S. They actually made the final 4. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. It's Mitchell's first ASG appearance. 4:10 pm ET, 2023 WNBA All-Star Game: Full rosters, draft results, 2023 WNBA All-Star Weekend: How to watch, rosters, Fever's Smith (foot) to miss at least two weeks, Delle Donne (ankle) out two weeks, will miss ASG, WNBA Power Rankings: McCowan has Wings flying high, Griner's dunk continues remarkable return to action. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. With that many players in and out of the rotation, its hard to find consistency and chemistry, especially on offense where the Sparks often look disjointed and out of sync. EDD joined the 50/40/90 club in 2019 and won a WNBA championship. 3. 8. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Im not sure what most fans who watched the June 21, 1997, debut of the WNBA thought about the future of womens professional basketball, but if you could have taken the people who watched that very first game and transported them immediately to today, Im guessing a good number of them would have the same response.
Lets take a bit of a deeper dive into just why people dont watch WNBA games and why the league isnt as popular as it was initially panned out to be. It would be fun if Brittney Griner had a big game and ended up with the award after everything shes been through. 18 Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon, play was stopped . Moreover, as pundits debate whether a severely depressed sports viewership landscape is that way in part because of increased athlete activism, the WNBA perhaps more than any other league used. While, perhaps, calling the WNBA is not exactly the nicest term, few can deny that the WNBA simply does not have the energy and enthusiasm of the NBA. Copyright 2019 Las Vegas Review-Journal, Inc. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service, Minnesota Lynx's Napheesa Collier competes in an obstacle course involving passing and shooting challenges during the WNBA All-Star skills challenges at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Friday, July 26, 2019. The Dream should prove to have too much firepower for the Storm to keep up.
Why the WNBA remains irrelevant to most sports fans 21 years later The Lynx, who lost Sylvia Fowles to retirement, got off to a slow start (0-6) but are 8-3 since. And while this may be possible with the WNBA, the league is simply too young to have developed a significant emotional connection for any one fan. Almost a month of sitting on the bench, watching and learning served her well. AT does not need the ball in her hands at all times to have a huge impact and she can dominate the game on both ends of the floor. After all of the turmoil surrounding the Sun in the offseason, she is the perfect person to help the franchise weather the storm (no pun intended). The 2023 MLB All-Star Game is in the books and an unlikely hero rose to the occasion in the form of Rockies catcher Elias Diaz. Your favorite teams, topics, and players all on your favorite mobile devices. To further shore up our frontcourt strength, let's go with one of the brightest young bigs. With Gray and Vandersloot, Team Stewart feels good about its distribution experts. (Photo of Alyssa Thomas: David Berding / Getty Images). 42 in the ASG's second half to honor her in Chicago -- and this year she will receive a warm, emotional ovation from fans. The Dream are paced by a star trio that features guards Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray, and forward Cheyenne Parker, who are all averaging double figures. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Team Stewart (Voepel): Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever.
The Angels Just Can't WinEven With Trout and Ohtani By 2002, the league had doubled in size to 16 teams. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Her defensive prowess also rubs off on her teammates which makes this team tough to beat.
Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier Launch 3-on-3 Women's - Complex Again, while not a terrible annual salary, it is far less than the average pay in the NBA and is, in some cases, the total pay of an elite NBA player for justone game. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Last season, the leagues average attendance dipped to 7,716. The Spurs hope Wemby can become a generational superstar for the franchise. 0:00 / 11:31 This is why the WNBA has no fans. Fantasy women's basketball: What are the biggest first-half surprises? After suffering another Finals loss, the Sun would lose their head coach, franchise player and another foundational player.
The Womens National Basketball Association, or WNBA, is a professional basketball league that was founded on April 22, 1996. Below, we are going to discuss just why most people dont watch WNBA games and what steps can be taken to increase overall viewership. We love versatility. Below, we are going to review some of the top reasons why the WNBA is seen as boring. Wilson also has numerous endorsement deals to supplement her income. Theyve always done a great job in the past.. 1 Las Vegas Aces, and a lot of their recent upswing has to do with the defense and rebounding McCowan offers inside.
Victor Wembanyama and the history of international No. 1 - FanSided The fact the league has failed to generate much publicity is particularly telling considering how little there is in the sports world to cover in the summer. She already has three (five in her career) and is close to averaging a triple-double on the season with 14.9 points, 9.8 rebounds (7.7 defensive) and eight assists. Going for More Woke Than Thou demonstrably lowers your appeal to sports fans.When you have precious few fans to begin with, employing that tactic is playing with fire.. As we've seen in the case of the NFL, players like Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes draw fans . To utilize the platform to further enhance the womens game, I think its a phenomenal opportunity to be a part of, Mitchell told reporters.
WNBA Viewership And Social Engagement Are Reasons For Optimism - Forbes Collier is just 26 but already has a seasoned veteran mentality. Since the Point Gawd was taken early by Team Stewart, we'll go for her backcourt mate and the reigning All-Star Game MVP. WNBA players take part in the NBA's All-Star weekend and, at the conclusion of all games, sign autographs until their fingers bleed. Team Stewart (Voepel): Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Aces.
Why do people complain about equal pay for the WNBA? : r/wnba - Reddit Perhaps a more fair comparison of the WNBAs lack of audience growth in two decades is Major League Soccer, which debuted one year prior to the WNBA in 1996. She turned 33 this month, but seems to be playing as well as ever. Will Gabby Williams give Seattle a much-needed boost? Team Stewart (Voepel): DeWanna Bonner, Connecticut Sun.
Adam Silver: One of the WNBA's problems is that not enough young women The NBA owned the league and spent money to promote it. No matter who has been on the roster and now coached it, AT will always play hard and motivate her teammates. This is the team he put together for this season.
Women Share How the WNBA Inspired Their Love for the Game - Highsnobiety The former No. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova/File Photo. Lyndsey D'Arcangelo writes about women's college basketball and the WNBA for The Athletic and Just Women's Sports. (Nic Antaya/Getty Images) The first NBA in-season tournament tips off Nov. 3 with group play and concludes Dec. 9 with the . I'm breaking down All-Star captain A'ja Wilson scoring 16 of her game-high 25 points in the first quarter of the Las Vegas Aces 97-78 win at the Los Angeles Sparks.
NBA in-season tournament details: Dates, team groupings, Las Vegas Las Vegas and Michelob Ultra Arena hosted the WNBA All-Star game in 2019 and 2021 before the game moved to the Chicago Skys Wintrust Arena for 2022. The five teams include the Indiana Fever, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Minnesota Lynx, the New York Liberty, and the Phoenix Mercury. The new stadium, quality of the team, and that special Vegas air of debauchery during the tailgates has made Raiders tickets some of the most coveted and expensive in the NFL. Gray is averaging 14.5 PPG and 6.4 APG (the latter would be a career high). She and Dream teammate Allisha Gray could be another good tandem to pair on the floor together. Either way, the All-Star trophy is going to be huge. Zahui B. averaged just 7.5 minutes, two points and 1.4 rebounds per game with Washington. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Aces All-Star Kelsey Plum became the first player in franchise history to score 40 points in a game Sunday, but advanced stats show why it was a special performance. Thankfully, the All-Star Game break is finally here. While I had Team Wilson draft a non-Aces player first overall, Wilson won't let a teammate firmly in the All-WNBA (and MVP) conversation like Young drop any lower. The Fever may have a more versatile veteran in Zahui B., but her stats this season have been lackluster so far. The WNBA was originally envisioned as an alternative to the mens game. Again, why break things up when you've got a good thing going? To say the Storm's 2023 season has been disappointing would be an understatement. She has her hands in every facet of the game from start to finish. Answer (1 of 2): The WNBA remains because it is a strong promotional unit for the NBA and the sport of basketball itself. And while there has been some success in the WNBA, the majority of at-home viewers simply continue to disregard and avoid WNBA games and news. I never see anyone wearing Mercury merchandise. Television coverage of the NBA in the mid-1960s was a little more than one game a week on ABC, and local broadcast rights were usually limited to a handful of games each season. As with any new league, the WNBAs first games were sloppy, but the league had its share of stars. Williams, who recently signed a rest-of-the-season contract with Seattle after cutting short her season in France to end that player deal, might be just what the Storm need. 0:00 / 3:05 This is why the WNBA has no fans. If a basketball league falls in the summer and nobody cares, is it still a basketball league? The WNBA All-Star Weekend returns to Las Vegas Friday, and All-Stars like Napheesa Collier, Kelsey Mitchell and Ezi Magbegor say its proximity to the NBA Summer League can help grow their game. The Sun were right to gamble on Alyssa Thomas as the centerpiece in order to keep the franchise relevant. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. The Sun were right to gamble on Alyssa Thomas as the centerpiece in order to keep the franchise relevant . At the close of the 2022 season, the Connecticut Sun found themselves on the losing end of the WNBA finals for the second time in four seasons. Kamala Harris' statement about air travel is leaving many people confused, and the are now mocking her for it. Its the way that she calls out switches on defense, guards multiple positions, and brings energy to the team that makes her a teammate to love. The Mercury are not only one of the leagues original franchises, theyre also one of its most successful, having won three titles. The basketball mecca of Madison Square Garden proved to be just too big for the Liberty, who averaged 15,000 per game in 2001. Below, we are going to review some of the top reasons why the WNBA is seen as boring. When Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker dunked, the videos were distributed en mass and replayed hundreds of times (Writer's note: I'll say what nobody else has. In addition, by creating an exclusive womens basketball league, the NBA Board of Governors hoped to attract female viewership to both the NBA and the WNBA. She said it will be a good opportunity to build those relationships and encourage their players to come to Lynx games. A native of Milwaukee, he currently resides in Phoenix. Natasha Howard, Arike Ogunbowale have double-doubles, Wings rip Lynx 107-67, Liberty blow lead, top Fever in overtime 95-87 to advance to Commissioner's Cup final, Hayes scores 22, Bonner 21 and the Sun pull away from the Sky for an 84-72 win, WNBA Power Rankings: Can anyone stop the Aces?
Jackpot: Why Las Vegas' Gamble on the WNBA Has Paid Off As blessed as women like Parker and Lauren Jackson and Diana Taurasi are at basketball, their skills are not in visual demand.
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