Team USA won the most recent FIBA Women's World Cup, held in Turkey in '14.GETTY IMAGES
The upcoming FIBA Women's World Cup is a premier global basketball tournament, but "with a date falling in a crowded mid-September sports calendar and a host site in the far-flung Canary Islands," cutting through the clutter is a challenge for the event and participant Team USA, especially in a non-Olympic year, according to John Lombardo of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley said, "It is no secret that the marketing around the women's game is way behind the men's side. We are trying to bring attention to it. We get a lot of attention on the Olympics, but not as much on the World Cup level." This year's FIBA Women's World Cup is set for Sept. 22-30 in Tenerife. ESPN has the rights to the tournament with most games to be streamed on ESPN+ and the championship game to air on ESPN. Val Ackerman, former FIBA board member and current Big East commissioner, said that the Women's World Cup should have a "greater presence" in the U.S. despite competition from other sports. She said, "I am surprised that the event isn't more visible given the caliber of the talent on Team USA and the reach of the game globally. I would hope the event would be a bigger deal" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/17 issue).
