The WNBA Finals began on Wednesday night, lost in the shuffle among MLB postseason games. Even if the Finals had taken place in the late summer, as is typically the case, most sports fans would still not have paid much attention.
The fact that the WNBA is generally disregarded by male sports fans is no startling revelation. What may cause more consternation for Donna Orender is the fact that some women, including female basketball players, also do not hold the league in much high standing.
Recently, Melissa Rohlin wrote a piece in the L.A. Times explaining why she, a former basketball player who “dreamed of playing in the WNBA“, does not actually watch WNBA games. Rohlin: “I watch basketball to be entertained. I do not watch it to support a cause. And, quite frankly, men’s basketball is far more entertaining than women’s basketball.”
Rohlin goes on to say that she is not alone, explaining that only one of the women’s basketball players hoping to make the team at Los Angeles’ Palisades High regularly watched the WNBA.
I myself recently bumped into a women’s college basketball player whose team is a regular in the NCAA Tournament. She also indicated that she does not watch WNBA games, even though she hopes to eventually play in the league.
The reasoning? Women are not the best basketball players in the world, a standing reserved for male NBA players. Additional reasons include the fact that it’s hard to find games on television (only three of the six Conference Finals games aired on ESPN2), the lack of male viewership (one Palisades player explains, “Half of the fun of watching basketball is debating the games with my guy friends,”), and fear of being viewed as gay.
If even young, female basketball players discount a league that was in all intents and purposes created for them, the WNBA has a significant way to go before gaining mainstream acceptance. There is the possibility that these examples are the exception and not the rule. After all, ratings for WNBA games on ESPN2 were up 71% among women 18-34.
Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi wrote a scathing rebuttal to Rohlin’s piece in the Times, suggesting that “those like Ms. Rohlin who find us so boring are simply too close-minded to give the WNBA a chance, shackled by stereotypes, homophobia or an obsession with being accepted by men.” Taurasi, on the argument against watching the WNBA because male players are more entertaining: “Ms. Rohlin, are you a fan of college basketball, which doesn’t feature Kobe Bryant or any of the world’s best players? Is Serena Williams not entertaining because her serve isn’t as fast as Andy Roddick’s? Are you bored by sprint star Allyson Felix because women’s 200-meter times haven’t cracked the 20-second barrier like the men? What does Dara Torres mean to you?”
Taurasi did not stop there. She paid for the Palisades basketball team to attend Game 1 of the Silver Stars/Sparks Western Conference Final at USC’s Galen Center (the Sparks and Detroit Shock had to play Conference Final games on college campuses because their usual homes, Staples Center and The Palace of Auburn Hills, were booked).
Perhaps that act can go a long way towards changing the perception, even among those who should be the league’s biggest supporters, that the WNBA is not worth watching.
