WNBA President Laurel Richie said that the league's recently announced a "WNBA Pride" marketing campaign targeting the LGBT community is "about acknowledging a segment of our audience," according to a Q&A with Jayda Evans of the SEATTLE TIMES. Below are excerpts from the interview:
Q: Nearly every team hosts an annual “Pride Night” in conjunction with the LGBT community’s celebration. Isn’t this redundant?
Richie: Particularly the lesbian audience has been part of our fan base since the very beginning and we have done activations and marketing to that segment of our fan base. During the offseason, we did some research to get some feedback on what we had been doing to reach the audience and what we could be doing better.
Q: What did the research show?
Richie: First we learned that about 21 percent of the sample used had been to a game and 25 percent had watched games on TV. The recommendations reinforced things we had been doing (like being in Pride parades). It also helped us understand there might be an opportunity to reach younger lesbians. Our demographic skewed a little bit older. That was very helpful learning for us.
Q: The WNBA at the league level has had a tenuous relationship with its gay fan base, so this seems like a “Coming Out” for the league.
Richie: I’m not sure I would characterize it that way. To me, we have been doing some terrific things and we’re adding additional elements, like partnering with ESPN for what we think is the first nationally televised Pride game. We built a micro website and CoverGirl has come on as our partner given their focus on celebrating the strength and diversity of women (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/27).
