That's racist!

[just bob]

A'ja Wilson is the first Black WNBA player with a shoe deal since like 2010, in a league where something like 8 of the top 10 and 6 of the top 7 players are Black. Before hers was revealed, there were 3 or 4 WNBA players with shoe deals and all of them were white. I like Caitlin Clark as much as you do (there's no Y in her name) but there's no question that her race factors into her popularity and "marketability"

Has to do with money. Maybe this chick whose parents can't spell Asia is a dumb b****, thus not marketable? You know way more about her than I do. She sure comes off as an idiot.

Do you have the stats on black NBA shoe deals vs White NBA deals? Once you do that expand that to the NFL and MLB as well.

Good catch with Caitlin. My sisters name is Caitlyn and I just keep defaulting to that.

 

[NashVol11]

I said black athletes, you changed it to black female. Why do you think it is that black men are marketable and black women aren't?

Because men view men's sports as a meritocracy where it's about who the best player is and it doesn't matter how they look, and for a lot of men watching women's sports it's at least half about looks. Idk how old you are but Anna Kournikova was everywhere

 

[NashVol11]

Women’s sports in general aren’t very marketable. Did anyone else notice how they tried to blend and force feed the women’s bracket in with the men’s during march madness? It was ridiculous and just turned a lot of people off to trying to keep up with it on ESPN.

ESPN shows only women's March Madness and the men's version is on CBS/TBS/TruTV, so that may have contributed to your confusion lol

 

[just bob]

Because men view men's sports as a meritocracy where it's about who the best player is and it doesn't matter how they look, and for a lot of men watching women's sports it's at least half about looks. Idk how old you are but Anna Kournikova was everywhere

I'm not saying you're right, but I can't necessarily argue with that because women are crazy and no one knows what goes on in their heads. They don't even know.

We can now move on to consumer vs customer in this regard, though I will revisit later sir.

Also, Anna K. Come on now.

 

[C-south]

ESPN shows only women's March Madness and the men's version is on CBS/TBS/TruTV, so that may have contributed to your confusion lol

What? So you’re saying ESPN doesn’t discuss anything related to the men’s brackets? They had no shows dedicated to discussing anything related to the men’s tournament? Your water carrying is making you look dumber than usual.

 

[NashVol11]

What? So you’re saying ESPN doesn’t discuss anything related to the men’s brackets? They had no shows dedicated to discussing anything related to the men’s tournament? Your water carrying is making you look dumber than usual.

I just wouldn’t put it past you to be watching live games on the wrong channel. This year the women’s bracket was more interesting than the men’s, ESPN covered it a lot for a reason

 

[C-south]

I just wouldn’t put it past you to be watching games on the wrong channel. This year the women’s bracket was more interesting than the men’s, ESPN covered it a lot for a reason

Too bad they couldn’t dedicate more airtime to just the women. Guess they knew the ratings would suck as usual so they mixed it in with the men to create a jumbled mess.

 

[NashVol11]

Too bad they couldn’t dedicate more airtime to just the women. Guess they knew the ratings would suck as usual so they mixed it in with the men to create a jumbled mess.

The final game, between South Carolina's Gamecocks and the University of Iowa's Hawkeyes, averaged about 18.7 million viewers and peaked at a whopping 24 million combined on ESPN and ABC, making it the first time in history that a women's final has drawn a larger TV audience than the men's, according to ESPN.

In contrast, the victory of the men's Division 1 UConn Huskies over Purdue averaged 14.82 million on TBS and TNT.

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/10/1243801501/womens-ncaa-championship-tv-ratings

 

[KB5252]

Because men view men's sports as a meritocracy where it's about who the best player is and it doesn't matter how they look, and for a lot of men watching women's sports it's at least half about looks. Idk how old you are but Anna Kournikova was everywhere

I think for the casual consumers, which is most, you are probably right to at least some extent. But I think the vast majority see the athleticism and skill and respect it for what it is and the looks are just icing on the cake for those that have it.

 

[MemphisVol77]

She's right. It's hard to argue otherwise if you follow the WNBA even a little bit

I have to agree with you on this.

I agree with you guys. I don't think this is necessarily a negative or bad thing either(as some seem to be taking it). I freely admit, I've never followed WNBA or Golf, but is there any similarity to Tiger Woods? Record setting amateur phenoms, and......,Wasn't there a race element in Tiger Woods popularity as he got ready to make his professional debut?

After he won the U.S. Am, Woods turned pro and signed what was reportedly a five-year, $40 million contract with Nike — at the time the most lucrative endorsement deal for a pro athlete ever. Here's how much money Nike contributed to Tiger Woods' massive fortune

I don't see this as too particularly polarizing like Isaah Thomas's infamous comments about Larry Bird or the fat idiot Limbaugh's vitriolic comments about Donovan McNabb being overrated.

If I'm way off, please correct me. I'm not trying to be contentious or dismissive.

 

[C-south]

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/10/1243801501/womens-ncaa-championship-tv-ratings

Thanks Caitlin.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

Has to do with money. Maybe this chick whose parents can't spell Asia is a dumb b****, thus not marketable? You know way more about her than I do. She sure comes off as an idiot.

Do you have the stats on black NBA shoe deals vs White NBA deals? Once you do that expand that to the NFL and MLB as well.

Good catch with Caitlin. My sisters name is Caitlyn and I just keep defaulting to that.

Aja is a fantastic Steely Dan album.

 

[GroverCleveland]

Countless examples of Black female athletes that weren't "hot" to white people being wildly popular? Name some.

She's had a deal for more than a year now. As usual you don't know what you are talking about

Venus & Serena Williams.

 

[NashVol11]

Venus & Serena Williams.

Serena was in the SI Swimsuit Edition, lol. Even when Venus had the edge in accomplishments early on, Serena surpassed her in popularity because she was better-looking

 

[NashVol11]

I think for the casual consumers, which is most, you are probably right to at least some extent. But I think the vast majority see the athleticism and skill and respect it for what it is and the looks are just icing on the cake for those that have it.

I mostly agree with you, but I don't necessarily think the latter group is the vast majority. I think a lot of people's opinion of WNBA players' athleticism is just "less than the men," "lower the rims," "I'd like to see them play a men's high school team" etc etc

 

[GroverCleveland]

Serena was in the SI Swimsuit Edition, lol. Even when Venus had the edge in accomplishments early on, Serena surpassed her in popularity because she was better-looking

She was? Wouldn't know either one, but know they were wildly popular and, I believe, still are fairly popular?

 

[NashVol11]

She was? Wouldn't know either one, but know they were wildly popular and, I believe, still are fairly popular?

Yup. Both are popular but Serena is far more popular (17M Instagram followers to 2M, for example). Not necessarily a fair comparison anymore because Serena is now one of the most decorated tennis players ever, but back when their accomplishments were more even (or even edge Venus) Serena was still more popular IMO

 

[Carl Pickens]

Serena was in the SI Swimsuit Edition, lol. Even when Venus had the edge in accomplishments early on, Serena surpassed her in popularity because she was better-looking

I’m sure it had absolutely nothing to do with her being the better player. Neither of them were very attractive anyway

 

[NashVol11]

I’m sure it had absolutely nothing with her being the better player. Neither of them were very attractive anyway

I could have worded that better but I meant that even early on when Venus was the better player, Serena started to be more popular than her because she was also good and more attractive. Serena's popularity later on had a lot to do with her being better than Venus ever was, I'm not saying that was just due to looks.

 

[KB5252]

I mostly agree with you, but I don't necessarily think the latter group is the vast majority. I think a lot of people's opinion of WNBA players' athleticism is just "less than the men," "lower the rims," "I'd like to see them play a men's high school team" etc etc

I think you and they are both right if that makes sense. They have physical limitations in speed and strength when compared to the men but in their game they are competitive and extremely skilled.

I will say the modern version of the women's game has closed the gap on the men's game and has advanced immensely in just the past 10 years.

Women's sports need a from the women's demographic if they want to increase their footprint.

A flashy player is what the WNBA needs, but it has to be the right kind of flashy, let's face it, women are viewed differently when they have "swag", that is a challenge to market.

 

[DC_Vol]

I’ve never been able to make it through more than 5 minutes of a WNBA game.

 

[85SugarVol]

She's right. It's hard to argue otherwise if you follow the WNBA even a little bit

Should private companies not be able to choose who they hire to market their products?

 

[85SugarVol]

A lot of "the dollar" comes from the people who view the sport primarily through the lens of "how attractive is she," which is why Kelsey Plum is one of the most popular players alive without even being the best player on her own team

Googling Kelsey Plum…

 

[marcusluvsvols]

Yea it’s booming.

When last I read an article about the WNBA, admittedly its been a few years, no team in the WNBA had turned a profit for the season yet...the league as a whole therefore lost money every season as well...and the ratings and attendance were so poor that the limited TV broadcasts were charity as well. The whole league was basically a charity of the NBA....a financial sinkhole that the NBA franchise owners had to shoulder as a "woke gesture" to the minority known as women...in order to have the privilege of owning NBA teams and actually making money from the TV contract the league has in place etc. If I actually cared, I would google it to see if and how much the WNBA is still hemorrhaging $$$...but like pretty much every other American, I don't actually care. I do really like Caitlin though. It was a joy to watch her playoff runs the last 2 seasons, as well as highlights on youtube from the regular season when she went "Plaid" on some teams and scored 40 or so with a triple double each time. Regularly shooting from a couple steps past half court like Steph Curry does...because she CAN. Without a doubt the best female basketball player I have ever seen. Not just as a shooter. She routinely has 10+ rebounds AND 10+ assists while shooting like shes in a videogame. Amazing.

 

[EasternVol]

Maybe she’s just more likable. If it’s a race thing then maybe that’s something they need to address on their own.

She doesn't come across as likeable.