WNBA Sees Regular-Season Attendance Spike, But Still Faces Issues
 |
WNBA Sees 2.7% Increase
In Attendance This Season |
The WNBA saw average attendance increase 2.7% this season, marking the “second consecutive year of attendance growth following the 2006 season,” according to John Lombardo of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The ’06 season averaged just 7,610 fans per game, the “lowest attendance in league history.” The WNBA this season also had 47 sellouts, “three times the number from last season.” WNBA President Donna Orender: “This is a business that is starting to mature and the product is improving. We are developing stars in the league. [Sparks rookie F] Candace Parker was significant. She affirms the core fans’ belief in the league, but also brings us a broader array of fans” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/22 issue). But in Hartford, John Altavilla reported as the league grows, a "continued push for local ownership, separate from the NBA ties that spawned it, seems imperative." The WNBA "needs to find the undeveloped hotbeds, push to expand or move under-producing franchises there, like it did by moving the Miracle to Connecticut." And "perhaps most important, it must figure out a way to market more efficiently in the offseason, while its core players are in Europe and Asia making the big salaries that sustain them" (HARTFORD COURANT, 9/21).
|
Related Stories By Company
|
Related Stories By Sport
|
Parker Tops WNBA List Of Most Popular Jerseys
October 7, 2008 :
SportsBusiness Daily
WNBA Mystics Look To Remodel Franchise
August 20, 2008 :
SportsBusiness Daily
WNBA Comets For Sale
August 11, 2008 :
SportsBusiness Daily
WNBA Storm Seeks New Staff, Lease Deal
August 6, 2008 :
SportsBusiness Daily
WNBA Earns A+ In Racial, Gender Report
July 31, 2008 :
SportsBusiness Daily
|
ESPN Offers Holiday Hoops Coverage
December 1, 2008 :
SportsBusiness Daily
NBA Franchise Notes
December 1, 2008 :
SportsBusiness Daily
LeBron, MSN End Marketing Partnership
November 26, 2008 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Catching Up With NBA's Heidi Ueberroth
November 26, 2008 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Bobcats Local TV Ratings Last In NBA
November 26, 2008 :
SportsBusiness Daily
|
|