How the WNBA Can Survive and Flourish
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It’s no secret that the WNBA hasn’t had the success it had hoped for when the league was first established in 1996. The past couple of years have been some of the most difficult of its 25-year history.
Average attendance is at a league-record low. 75% of the WNBA’ s owners don’t prioritize their teams over other endeavors. Its players are demanding higher pay and larger contracts. All the while the league loses $10 million a year.
There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Here are some steps the league can take.
Take Advantage of the NCAA’s New NIL
If you haven’t heard of the new NIL policy, you’ve been living under a rock. The policy completely changed the landscape of collegiate sports after being passed by the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors in June 2021. After college athletes fought long and hard for the ability to market themselves and make money as a part of the NCAA’s lucrative business, its board finally agreed to terms on the NIL. This allowed for athletes to finally be able to market themselves based on their name, image and likeness.
It is clear that the WNBA should take advantage of this new policy. Even before the existence of this new NIL policy, other sports leagues have utilized other existing rules to market collegiate players. No other league has done this better than the NFL, treating the NCAA as their minor league. A player must be at least three years through college to be able to be drafted into the NFL. This three year period has made a plethora of stars for the NFL, most already stars before they’re drafted. Some of the most recent names include Joe Burrow, Trevor Lwrence, and Chase Young.
The NBA also takes advantage of their one-and-done rule well; a rule that mandates NBA teams to only be able to select collegiate-level players who have finished at least one year of high school.
There is no reason as to why the WNBA should not jump on the opportunity to market collegiate-level athletes. There’s no better way to carry viewers over than the anticipation of being able to watch stars flourish on the next level.
Obtain a New Television Deal
How do a league’s viewers watch their games? Through television. Not every fan can go to every game. As a result, it is integral that any professional sports league acquires a satisfactory television deal at a minimum.
The WNBA has inked television contracts between CBS and ESPN that, according to media estimates, garner the league about $25 million a year. Compared to what other leagues receive, that number is miniscule. The NFL receives $4.5 billion a year from their television contracts; meanwhile, the NBA is receiving $2.6 billion a year.
The WNBA understandably cannot request television deals as big as the NFL or NBA—their viewership numbers don’t hold a candle to theirs. However, even compared to the deals of sports leagues with similar numbers, the WNBA still seems to be getting the short end of the stick. Comparison of the WNBA’s and MLS’s viewership numbers to television deals illustrate the situation.
In the 2021 regular season, the MLS averaged 384,000 viewers per game and attracted 620,000 viewers during its most-watched game. In the same year, the WNBA averaged 306,000 television viewers per regular-season game but had 755,000 people watch its most viewed game.
The MLS received $90 million a year from the sum of their television deals. Fortunately for the WNBA, this isn’t news to their commissioner, Cathy Engelbert. “There is a huge fee gap between men's and women's sports, even to those men's sports that we compete with quite well on viewership.”
Properly Find a Target Audience to Market Towards
Without the proper marketing, no sports league will get its feet off the ground. Despite receiving support from being partnered with the NBA, the WNBA has also suffered from being so tied to the hip with the mens version of their league.
“I think the WNBA probably doesn't provide much value to the average NBA fan, so their proximity to the NBA does not help them in the way initially hoped,” said Jared Watson, an Assistant Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern. “Who is the market that finds value in watching a league that's ‘like the NBA but with women athletes exclusively’ and is the league focused on that market primarily?”
The WNBA consistently markets itself as a “women’s version of the NBA,” subjecting itself to be consistently viewed upon more trivially than to be taken seriously. In fact, the WNBA’s marketing has had a history of inefficient marketing strategies.
In 2004, the WNBA announced their “This is Who I Am” ad campaign. The campaign had players dress up in ball gowns and fashion forward clothing, mistakenly presenting these players as pretty women who play basketball instead of athletic superstars.
"Everytime we get to do one of these shoots, it is a different experience. I got to be on a beach playing with dogs and do some boxing this time,” said former WNBA player Nykesha Sales at the time of the ad campaign. “There were a lot of different girls involved, and everyone has a different look and personality.”
“Usually I get dressed, go play basketball and come home. But for this, we got pampered and dressed up with make-up, and then when you see yourself, you say 'I can't believe that's me’,” said Tamika Catchings.
Ironic for an ad campaign titled, “This is Who I Am.”
“This was a campaign that was focused on attracting new consumers based on a premise entirely detached to the skill of these athletes,” said Watson. “So, it doesn't make much sense nor does it seem like it would be effective in generating any level of positive effect.”
Apart from needing to market itself better, the WNBA should start looking towards setting up the next generation of athletes. Year round, the NBA sets up youth training camps, meet and greets, a plethora of community outreach programs, and much more. The NBA prides itself on being able to market itself to the next generation, and justifiably so. It’s a strategy that creates a surplus of increasingly talented stars clamoring to play in the NBA year after year. Through having an impactful societal outreach, the league makes sure to create both players and fans with each passing generation. If there’s anything for the WNBA to learn from the NBA, that is it.
If the WNBA can reach a target audience within the next generation, they’ll be greeted with a new wave of young athletes and fans who’ll fight to have their beloved league survive.
