Caitlyn Clark's game had more TV viewers than any NBA game this season on ESPN

[Field Marshall Bradley]

The womens game has evolved

Evolved from what?

 

[concise]

You can call it what you want but I’m call it for what it is: The women’s college game has more star power than the men’s college game. I’ve never seen a time where that was consistently true until now.

This star power in college will change how we consume the WNBA which will change how the WNBA operates. The Britney Griner situation, debate about charter planes, added star power will take the WNBA to another level we’ve never seen before in women’s pro sports

Doubt it.

US Women's soccer built up a bunch of stars with the Olympic and World Cup titles and it still translated into multipled collapsed pro leagues with poor ratings.
Huge chunks of WNBA teams are playing in arenas half the size of NBA teams. Even with all the star power these women have, their FF is being played in an arena, mens being played in a football stadium.

 

[HandyWithTheSteel]

You can call it what you want but I’m call it for what it is: The women’s college game has more star power than the men’s college game. I’ve never seen a time where that was consistently true until now.

This star power in college will change how we consume the WNBA which will change how the WNBA operates. The Britney Griner situation, debate about charter planes, added star power will take the WNBA to another level we’ve never seen before in women’s pro sports

The only way for the WNBA to capitalize on the popularity of women’s college would be to completely change its culture. The WNBA is filled with dykes (and possibly trannies in the future ). Women’s college is conservative. The girls actually look like girls, not tatted up studs. Fans who are in to women’s college ball aren’t going to watch the WNBA.

There’s already a cultural disconnect between men’s college ball and the NBA and it’s even bigger for the women.

 

[AVXL]

Doubt it.

US Women's soccer built up a bunch of stars with the Olympic and World Cup titles and it still translated into multipled collapsed pro leagues with poor ratings.
Huge chunks of WNBA teams are playing in arenas half the size of NBA teams. Even with all the star power these women have, their FF is being played in an arena, mens being played in a football stadium.

I think the women’s pro game is in a better spot than it has ever been. Now granted I don’t think the WNBA will ever be as big as the NBA but that was never really the argument. The WNBA can be a viable, profitable league with marketable stars and the women’s college game is now setting the stage for that to happen. Better TV deals, more amenities & larger salaries will follow if/when you start seeing more Caitlyn Clark’s & Angel Reese’s and Aliyah Boston’s go pro

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

When will yall realize social media followers don't mean shyt and are pretty much useless when it comes to people watching actual games

This isn't true. Zion Williamson is a prime example.

 

[GilSho]

Hip hop culture has also damaged the ‘NBA’s ratings and image with Cac America

With Boomer cacs most definitely. The NBA has zero pull wiith that demographic.

Anyway, until the NBA can churn out Superstars like Rodgers, Brady, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow etc there's going to be a limit to it's mass appeal.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Blaming cacs instead of the bland product is the problem

That's correct. Load management is fukking ridiculous and a lot of games the players are literally going through the motions. I don't know how many times I've watched the Celts this year where they are clearly not giving half of a fukk against the Pistons and Magic etc.. They've lost to a lot of bottom teams and then they go beat the Bucks by 40. Ridiculous lack of effort.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

The only reason is because women stay for 4 years

Easy fix to all of this. Make the women have to earn Masters Degrees in their field. Give them two more years of eligibility.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

People arguing about a lack of star power on the men's side... yet... their ratings are doing great too.

 

[MikelArteta]

With Boomer cacs most definitely. The NBA has zero pull wiith that demographic.

Anyway, until the NBA can churn out Superstars like Rodgers, Brady, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow etc there's going to be a limit to it's mass appeal.

meh no one cares kansas had that cac grady dikk and no one cared

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

With Boomer cacs most definitely. The NBA has zero pull wiith that demographic.

Anyway, until the NBA can churn out Superstars like Rodgers, Brady, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow etc there's going to be a limit to it's mass appeal.

There's only one superstar within the bolded

 

[BaltimoreTwilightMarauder]

Nba losing to women sports.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

meh no one cares kansas had that cac grady dikk and no one cared

It's really hard to start a pro league. People are wondering why, it's not just Adam Silver who is failing, they've failed to start up women's pro soccer leagues too. Only the MLS has been successful in starting a league over the past 50 years and that's largely due to a change in demographics with how many Spanish speaking individuals that are living in the United States.

WNBA is marketed terribly. I think a poster was on to something though... the Sparks should just be the "Lady Lakers". I think that would help with the branding. Same exact colors and logos.

 

[Depreciating Asset]

IDK breh this feels different. This is the first time where I’ve felt more star power in the women’s game and been compelled to watch a women’s title game like this. shyt my 11 year old knows both Angel & Caitlyn and she doesn’t care about sports at all. Caitlyn is a star and has a modern style game + she’s marketable. I think this is a big moment for the future of women’s ball where you have marketable stars that people want to see. It’s funny that the women’s college game has consistently more star power than the men’s college game now

I agree. This is different. 5.5 million viewers is some Curry vs LeBron 2017 shyt. The most watched women's final 4 ever.

You all are right about the wnba in many respects. Candace Parker was talking about how much is wrong with the league on Draymond's pod. But this is the time to invest. It won't ever be the NBA but it will be 2x to 4x what it is now. Paige and Caitlin are this generation's Bird and Taurasi with a bigger audience and social media. People might tune in to see Brittany Griner's return as well.

I'm trying to figure out how to make money on this.

 

[Pure Water]

This all comes down to the culture of the games. College basketball for one has more at stake. There's less games, so each game counts. Also, considering this is a sudden death tournament, it's bound to have a lot of people watching. But going back to the culture, people care more about the school they went to or grew up watching more than the best players in the world shooting threes all night. The product is worse, but it's more exciting to watch.