The second WNBA All-Star Game takes place tonight in
Phoenix, and the league looked to quell some of the
controversy around the game by adding host-team Mercury G
Brandy Reed to the All-Star roster Friday, giving the West
12 players to the East's 11. In AZ, Jeff Metcalfe wrote
that the move by WNBA President Val Ackerman ended a
"tumultuous three days" (see THE DAILY, 7/14). Ackerman:
"We simply had not anticipated that the [Mercury] would not
be represented at the All-Star Game by virtue of either the
fans or coaches ballots." Metcalfe noted that the game "is
now a virtual sellout," as only "a few hundred of the
19,000-plus tickets remain" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/15). In
Ft. Lauderdale, Sharon Robb wrote that "it took three days
of public outcry, boycott talk by Mercury fans and the
threat of a nationally televised protest for the league to
act and create a spot for Reed (SUN-SENTINEL, 7/16).
HOST CITY: In AZ, Metcalfe & Coro report that
approximately 100 media credentials were issued for
tonight's game, half the amount for last year's inaugural
WNBA All-Star Game in N.Y. (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/17).
STATE OF THE LEAGUE: In AZ, Nena Baker wrote that as
the league "readies for its biggest event of the year ...
there are subtle signs the WNBA is making its mark in the
cluttered iconography of American sports." Baker: "The WNBA
evolved into a cultural phenomenon that's loved by devotees,
who appreciate how hard the women play, and loathed by
critics, mostly men, who call anything less than above-the-
rim, Top Gun-style basketball a big, fat joke. ... And so
unintentionally it seems, the WNBA represents a new skirmish
on the gender-equity battlefront" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/16).
CNBC's Mike Hegedus reported on the WNBA, and noted that as
franchises go, the Liberty "is one of the most successful,
if not on the court, then certainly at the box office," as
the team is "routinely drawing 13,000 fans" to MSG.
Ackerman: "It took the NBA 20 seasons to bring in 2 million
total fans. Last year, we averaged 10,000 fans a game for
the second straight season. That was in our third year. It
took the NBA 29 seasons to average, on a league wide basis,
10,000 fans per game." Meanwhile, Sears spokesperson John
Lebbad said the company feels their WNBA sponsorship helps
"to drive traffic to stores." Lebbad: "We want to drive
sales. We really want to also, from a branding standpoint,
differentiate ourselves from other retailers ... and the
WNBA really delivers what we're looking for in terms of the
customer that we want to connect to." Hegedus: "The
question now for the WNBA is, 'Does it have legs?'" ("The
Edge," CNBC, 7/14). In Seattle, Meredith Bagley writes that
the "question" with the WNBA is "whether the fans are losing
patience," as attendance has dropped 15% this season
(SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 7/17). In N.Y., ESPN & NBC
announcer and HOFer Ann Meyers Drysdale wrote an Op-Ed in
the N.Y. TIMES and said of the four-year-old league: "To
truly say the league is a sound, stable league, you have to
wait until at least the 10th year" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/16).
WHO WATCHES IT? In AZ, Jim Gintonio writes, "It appears
as if the WNBA is here to stay." The league's TV ratings on
Lifetime and ESPN "aren't spectacular, failing to crack the
1.0 barrier, but the desire to appeal to a niche audience is
being met." An ESPN spokesperson said that the WNBA has
drawn a 0.5 so far this season, the second-highest rated
prime-time telecasts on the net behind MLB (ARIZONA
REPUBLIC, 7/17). In Baltimore, Milton Kent writes that the
league's ratings are up 6% from last season on NBC, and down
31% on ESPN and Lifetime, which makes it "difficult, if not
impossible, to hear talk about the league on sports talk
radio or to see highlights on many sports news shows."
Average attendance is down 12% through a "similar period"
last season, and down 21% from the 10,900 high set in '98
(Baltimore SUN, 7/17). But WNBA officials contend that "the
league is the only sports undertaking to experience any
[ratings] gains this summer." WBNA Manager of Corporate
Communication Beth Marshall: "Our female and teen viewing is
up 33 percent" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/17).
LOCALLY: In AZ, Gintonio wrote that the Mercury's radio
home, KMVP-AM, "is the only station that gives the team any
positive air time during its talk shows," while others have
"different agendas." KGME-AM "ridicules the league, and has
since" its '97 inception, and KDUS-AM "ignores it for the
most part." KGME afternoon radio host Mike Jurecki, on the
station's position on the WNBA: "It's no knock on the gals,
but I went to the very first game and was turned off by the
missed layups and turnovers" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/16).
NEED TO EXAMINE BUSINESS MODEL? Sting G Dawn Staley, on
the state of the league: "Overall, we're moving away from
the team concept and more to exploiting players. For the
league to grow, you have to have a mixture of both to see
the beauty of women's basketball. The basketball has got to
be better" (Baltimore SUN, 7/17). Agent Bruce Levy, who
represents 26 WNBA players, said that players are "growing
impatient" with the league's salary system: "Next year, the
league will see that players have had it. They'll see they
won't be content to be forced to go overseas, or take
coaching jobs or work at McDonald's just to make a living
wage" (AZ REPUBLIC, 7/16). Mercury F Jennifer Gillom, on
playing in the WNBA versus playing internationally: "The
(WNBA) season is too short, plus this league doesn't
challenge you. You can come out and score 20-30 points, and
it's like you're playing backyard ball" (AZ REPUBLIC, 7/16).
In FL, Dave Andrews writes that what WNBA players want is
"more of the money being generated" by league sponsorship
and TV rights deals. WNBPA Dir of Operations Pam Wheeler:
"It boggles my mind how they can pay the players such little
money" (PALM BEACH POST, 7/17).
