One of the WNBA’s original eight teams, the Charlotte Sting, has folded after the Bobcats ownership group relinquished the team to the league. The WNBA attempted to find takers for the franchise, and it appeared for some time that it might relocate to Kansas City, but efforts failed. Part of the reason a move to Kansas City fell through could involve the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, who are considering moving to the city after plans for a new arena in Pittsburgh were unsuccessful.
The WNBA suddenly finds itself back at thirteen teams, even after adding a team last season (the Chicago Sky). The Sting are the fourth WNBA team to fold, after the Miami Sol, Portland Fire and Cleveland Rockers. While the league has fairly strong fanbases in New York, Washington, Sacramento, Los Angeles and Connecticut, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that teams in Minnesota, Indiana and San Antonio could be next to fold. No team in the WNBA averaged 10,000 fans last season, and entire sections of seats are empty for most regular season games.
Ominously, the league’s biggest stars are on their way out. Lisa Leslie, arguably the most recognizable WNBA player, will miss the upcoming season due to pregnancy. The only other WNBA player with mainstream recognition, Sheryl Swoopes, is at the end of her career. The league does have young, talented athletes, but none of them are very well known (save Sue Bird, whose mainstream appeal doesn’t go much further than the racy pictures she took for Dime Magazine).
The WNBA will never become more than a niche sport, but it could stay afloat if it changes its marketing strategy. Too often, the WNBA has promoted the fact that it is a women’s sport, instead of simply a sport. From the empowerment strategies of “We Got Next” to the objectification strategy that once saw players dressed suggestively saying among other things that they aren’t “as sweet as you think”, the WNBA has ignored its most basic attribute: that its a sports league. If the WNBA were to market itself as a basketball league to basketball fans, it might get more support and more respect. It would be a tall order to reverse the severely declining attendance, but it would go a long way in keeping the entire league from folding.
