The WNBA Needs a Better Business Strategy
With a huge 2024 Draft and more people paying attention to women’s basketball than ever before, the WNBA could be on the verge of the breakout season it’s been waiting for. More eyes could be on the league than ever in 2024.
The problem is that the WNBA doesn’t seem to be ready for that success. At the very least, there’s a lot of work to be done and hopefully this opportunity does not pass them by. It’s hard to know when or if this kind of hype will come the WNBA’s way, again.
Watching the WNBA
Certain basketball fans, who are dicks, love to compare the NBA and WNBA, which is absurd. There are differences in the rules, the court, and how the games are played. Like me, you can be a fan of both. Just don’t be an a$$hat about the differences.
Yes, there is a lot less dunking in women’s basketball. So? Dunking is fun to watch but it doesn’t win games. Ja Morant is an endless highlight reel of super cool in game dunks. How many titles has Memphis won? Jokić barely dunks and he’s one of the top players in the game with two MVPs, a Conference Title, a Finals MVP, and an NBA Championship.
What I love about watching the WNBA is the intensity. All the players seem to be locked in at all times. They are highly competitive, incredibly skilled, and flashy in their own ways. That’s only going to get better with the incoming class of rookies.
The 2024 season features what might be the best group of rookies in the history of the WNBA and possibly the NBA. It includes Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink, and the already legendary Caitlin Clark. Damn, this is going to be some good basketball.
Where’s the Business?
First and foremost, the WNBA needs expansion badly. There are currently only 12 teams playing a much shorter season than the NBA. Reportedly, there’s another team coming in 2025 with two or three more planned by 2028. That’s good but not good enough.
It’s hard to generate wider interest when the league has such a small footprint. This also impacts corporate sponsorships, advertising revenues, tickets, and merch. With the excitement around the 2024 rookies, we’re already seeing season ticket sellouts in some markets. More teams in more markets would expand all of that.
A huge problem for the WNBA is merchandise, specifically jerseys. Fans love buying jerseys from their favorite players. The issue for the WNBA and Fanatics, the company that manages their merch, is that jerseys do not get bigger than 2XL.
A significant number of male basketball fans are tall and/or fat, and a 2XL jersey simply isn’t going to get the job done. Being a tall/fat man, it’s an issue that’s prevented me from buying jerseys in the past. That’s endemic of the fact that the WNBA still doesn’t think men want to watch. It may have been true, but that demographic is changing.
Growing the WNBA Means More Male Viewers
Keeping in mind that men are already more interested in the WNBA than women, the league needs more fans who spend money. Period. Men in particular will spend irresponsible amounts of money on sports and sports paraphernalia. That includes jerseys, which are a huge part of our daily wardrobe choices.
For a lot of men, buying s#!t is how we show support for teams and players we care about. And not being able to buy said s#!t does cause some fans, both male and female, to disengage from the product. If the WNBA wants us to hang on, give us more things to buy.
The WNBA and Fanatics need to wrap their heads around this as soon as possible. I’m not suggesting the league needs to cater to men in any way, shape, or form. All I’m suggesting is that expanding merchandise lines will encourage that fandom and build stronger allegiances.
More teams. More players. More variety in products. More male fans. Yeah, it’s just that simple. Okay, it’s not simple at all. It will be a lot of time, money, and work to get there but that’s what it’s going to take to get the WNBA to the next level. I believe the league can do it.
