The WNBA begins its 20th season this weekend, and new WNBA President Lisa Borders "takes over with a mission to improve attendance ... as well as bolster revenue and increase visibility for the league," according to John Lombardo of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Borders has "spent the first two months of her job assessing league operations and meeting with representatives of the league's 12 teams as she looks to put her own stamp on the WNBA." Borders said, "I want to see us grow stably, consistently, incrementally and organically. I'd rather we think about how we grow in such a way that we are able to sustain it over time -- that we don't just live for 20 years, we live for 120 years. ... Making sure our product is healthy and that our teams are healthy is the first step." Borders said the WNBA's biggest area of opportunity is "marketing our players as individual players." She said, "People follow not just a league but follow people. Look at Steph Curry and what he has done for the men's game. He resonates with folks. We have not consistently marketed our players as individuals. We have players who we haven't introduced to sponsors and the public and perhaps not elevated what they do beyond the court" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/9 issue). USA TODAY's Howard Megdal reported the WNBA hopes Borders can "lead to an increase in what were stagnating attendance and television ratings" last year. Average attendance hit a record low of 7,318 last year, and Borders said, "When we talk about attendance, and we talk about viewership, and we talk about sponsorship, it's all driven by awareness. People coming to the game, watching the game, talking about the game, following their individual athlete, or their individual team. Folks learning about the league is the number one thing" (USA TODAY, 5/10).
THE ROAD AHEAD: In Raleigh, Barry Jacobs noted the WNBA has "demonstrated rare staying power for an American women's pro league," yet it "enjoys uneven success." In the league's 12 markets, interest "has waned." The league drew nearly 11,000 fans per game in '98, but it has not exceeded 8,000 since '09. Borders: "This is just like a campaign in politics in many ways. It is like hand-to-hand combat every day. You've got to knock on 10,000 doors to get a thousand votes. We have to do exactly the same thing for the WNBA" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 5/9). Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman, who served as WNBA President during the league's first eight years, said, "The quality of play in the WNBA is really at a zenith. The irony is we started with a quality of play that was much lower but at a time when the attention was so high. Now, it's reversed. The hope is that more fans can get dialed into this great product, because the players are exceptionally skilled. There's a great game happening." On Long Island, Barbara Barker notes the attendance and attention issues are examples of how the league is "experiencing a rocky young adulthood and identity crisis as it enters its 20s." The WNBA "continues to struggle with the perception that it is a niche league," with its maximum player salary of $111,500 sitting about 80% "less than the NBA minimum." However, there also is "plenty to celebrate." Its current TV deal with ESPN goes through '22 and is "reportedly worth $12 million a year," while it has added several "big-name sponsors," including a deal with Verizon that puts the company's logo on 10 team uniforms. There also is a "crop of rising young stars" like Sky F Elena Delle Donne, Lynx G Maya Moore and Storm F Breanna Stewart (NEWSDAY, 5/13).
GIVE ME LIBERTY? USA TODAY's Megdal noted the Liberty claiming a league title would serve as a "springboard for increased attendance, viewership and merchandise sales" that Borders has "made a hallmark of her first-year goals." However, Borders stopped short of endorsing the idea "as an explicit goal of the league." She said, "We'd get a bump out of an original team winning, whether that is New York, Los Angeles or Phoenix. Any one of those three would be helpful for the league" (USA TODAY, 5/10).
