Adam Silver admits WNBA is less popular than NBA thought it would be

Yahoo ^ | September 17, 2015 | Eric Freeman

[Gamecock]

You sure?

When I was in college there was a gal who played for the university team. About 5’10”. Pretty little thing. She showed up and played pickup games at the rec center. She would knock you out in a heart beat.

Did I mention she was a pretty little thing? (Yes, I had a crush on her.)

[867V309]

The only sports were women approach or exceed the popularity of the male version are those that involve artistry, for example, gymnastics and figure skating.

The only sports were women approach or exceed the popularity of the male version are those that involve artistry skimpy outfits, for example, gymnastics and figure skating.

[OldMissileer]

I'll bet skimpy outfits and legs akimbo have as much to do with the popularity of female gymnastics and figure skating as artistry does. :-)

I have become so jaded with the professionals playing sports for the Olympic teams that I have stopped watching the Summer Olympics altogether and the two events I still watch during the Winter Olympics is Curling and Women's Hockey.

The women are not professionals, they seem to skate like they love the sport and they sure as heck do not wear skimpy outfits. :-)

[PeteB570]

Well, if the WNBA folds and they can’t make it in the NBA lawmakers will let them in the Infantry.

/s

[PeteB570]

Double Thumbs up for Women’s Curling...

[Dr. Thorne]

WNBA - Ugly lesbians, 3-point shooting and lay-ups. Yawn.

[DaxtonBrown]

In high school, even I could dunk the ball and that was the late sixties when there was still some finesse.

[fungoking]

Girls bb coach asked me how to get as many guys show up and cheer as the volleyball team does...simple, have them wear spandex like the volleyball girls.

[discostu]

And yet the Russian women’s league is doing great, stealing players from here because they can pay much more. So clearly there can be an audience for it if it’s done right.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

How about the BBA All Black Basketball Association? No white devils permitted to play?

[fr_freak]

While it’s good that Americans don’t want to watch a watered down variation of basketball, it is unfortunate that they fail to recognize that basketball itself is a watered down meek sport. What is with all of these sports which have 100+ pages on “fouls” and the obsession with safety (all the whining about brain damage to football players, all the gear the football players have to exhibit, etc.)?

So you call basketball a meek, watered-down sport, then use a criticism of football to prove it? Your logic needs work. The NBA is watered down because it's all about the money to them so they can't risk the top draw players getting hurt, nor do they call the proper penalties on those top players because it would interrupt the show, but the sport of basketball itself is a great game.

Some sports emphasize one aspect of physical prowess, and others another. You don't allow excessive contact in basketball because it's not that kind of sport, any more than you allow it in the 100 meter dash. If people could elbow each other in the face during the 100 meter dash, it would no longer be about running and speed, it would be pure combat. Same with basketball. The NBA sucks precisely because they DON'T enforce the rules, such as traveling. The NFL has too many rules, but it is a different sport.

[discostu]

There’s 3 big reasons for all those rules:
1 - to help the flow of the game, most of the fouls make a game slow and choppy and inhibit skill
2 - stars don’t bring in nearly as much money from the fans sitting on the sideline hurt as they do in the field of play, injured players are bad for the bottom line
3 - kids play the game too, most folks aren’t terribly concerned with the adults making millions suffering long term damage, but then you remember high school kids who never get near the pros suffer the same damage

Plenty of exhibitions of physical prowess involve no danger. Watch Michael Motion some time, David Roth. Both of them regularly display jaw dropping physical prowess with no danger.

The only sissification going on with these things are the arm chair sissies who insist the sports are being ruined by perfectly reasonable rules and safety considerations.

[Lx]

Their star player.

It's in soft focus as it's lunchtime.

[BlueLancer]

"I'll bet skimpy outfits and legs akimbo..."

Legs Akimbo? Sounds like an African figure skater ...

[JimRed]

Since I play (rec) basketball myself, I watch everything from Biddy League, high school, college to NBA. Old dogs like me CAN learn new tricks. Those women are skilled athletes. But the easy availability of games on TV make it too much of a bother to attend in person. I’ll save those trips for the grandkids’ games.

[Secret Agent Man]

Most people dont flock to see a bunch of lesbians play/coach basketball.

[PapaBear3625]

“I don’t know if sexier unis would solve the attendance problem, but copying female volleyball players unis (not the beach players) would be a good start”

2014 31 Oct Penn State vs Ohio State Women’s Volleyball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUObI5zD_QI

Physically-fit, college girls in short shorts. Girls who actually LOOK LIKE GIRLS. What’s not to like?

[texas booster]

Well, ESPN announcers (”talent”) and ESPN executives all think that WNBA should be heavily promoted.

Probably because most of those guys were “recruited” to play for the other side at Syracuse.

Ask about the covered-up scandal at UTx involving women athletes who were excused from their scholarships and allowed to enroll elsewhere with no penalty.

A lot of college campuses need a floodlight and a broom to sweep the administration clean.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

Can’t stand either one.