Time=Treasure

There were 216 regular season WNBA games played in the 2022 season, 25 in which were aired by ESPN’s family of networks. This amounts to just short of 12% of games, whereas the NBA receives national television time on ESPN for roughly 20% of their games, with an even larger percentage of games being streamed on other networks that fall under the ESPN umbrella. While ESPN is not the only sports streaming service, it is the most prominent. Without the support for women in general from ESPN and similar services, an increase in viewership would practically be impossible, thus decreasing the chances of an increase in remuneration for WNBA players.

In a Los Angeles-based 2014 study conducted by Cheryl Cooky, Michael A. Messner, and Michela Musto, the lack of media coverage for women in sports is proven. Not only does the study prove that there is a lack of coverage, it provides the audience with instances where segments on women in sports have been delivered in a sense that belittles them. On KABC’s July 24, 2014 show, a commentator joked to fellow anchors, “Mark and Michelle, the Sparks: 3 and 9, their worst start in quite some time. They keep that up, we might not show ‘em again! This is a town of winners!” While the comment was meant as a harmless joke, the company did neglect to cover the Sparks (16-18, with a win percentage of .471) throughout the rest of the season. However, KABC continued to cover the Los Angeles Lakers, despite finishing their season as 21-61 (.256). The comments serve as a premise that leads fans to believe that in order for women’s sports to be worthy of coverage, they must be winners. However, even when the women do succeed, they are not given the same credit as men. 

The same study found that when women’s and men’s college basketball teams were covered, there was insufficient coverage of women’s teams because “everyone knows UConn is going to win.” Statements such as this present the idea that women’s sports in general are less interesting to watch or cover due to predictability. If media outlets covered women, especially the WNBA, with even a fraction of the excitement they do with the NBA, audiences would be more likely to engage in the sport. As iterated previously, the increase in engagement would also increase the revenue that the league and teams receive, ultimately leading to an elevation in pay for athletes. 

When looking at how the media delivers women’s sports, it is just as important to look at who is delivering women’s sports and in what manner. In the 2014 study, researchers found that over 95% of the anchors covering sports on the analyzed stations were male. The overwhelming majority of anchors and co-anchors being male likely correlates with heightened enthusiasm men bring to the table when discussing men’s sports. Using verbose language has been proven to spark interest in the sports world when attempting to appeal to audiences. While bringing excitement to the table is important, it is not always prevalent when discussing women’s sports. 

Researchers found that when commentators talk about women in the sports industry, they present the information in a more “matter-of-fact” manner. Cooky, Messner, and Musto have given a name to the phenomenon that is heightened interactions with men’s sports and the bore of women’s sports: “mediated man cave.” The man cave reference was birthed by the idea that sports news shows are “a place set up by men for men to celebrate men’s sensational athletic accomplishments.” Women have often been denied the opportunity to enter this “man cave,” conveying the message that there is no place for women in the sports world, which is belligerent.

Previous Ball State University Undergraduate, Alyssa Bridge, formulated a thesis titled WNBA: A League Where Players Will Always Lose. Throughout her thesis, Bridge dives into the history of basketball and more specifically the WNBA, as well as the constant challenges the league faces. On page 17, Bridge points out that, while there is an agreement between the NBA, WNBA, and ESPN that states that “ESPN is supposed to offer 30 games annually, along with a Memorial Day doubleheader,” it is highlight that “most of these games are on ESPN2 which isn’t available in most general cable packages.” Even as these games are available, they are not as easily accessible as they could, or should, be. 

Bridge goes even further to reference NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, as he believes that the issue between media coverage stems from targeting the wrong audience. According to Silver, the targeted audience is younger females who would likely look up to the athletes in the WNBA, when in reality the bulk of the support comes from older men, which is a “result of the leagues focus on basketball fundamentals.” Targeting the wrong demographic would cause a less response than anticipated, thus creating results that do not fulfill marketing needs. 

While media coverage is one way to promote players and the league, there are a variety of other ways that are often overlooked throughout the ongoing debate between the WNBA and the NBA. Bridge accentuates that endorsements are a promising way to expand an audience. By mentioning major product endorsements, such as an individual’s own shoe line, Bridge suggests that the league struggles to draw a younger crowd due to a lack of materialistic items branded by a specific player. Essentially, if a multitude of athletes such as Brittney Griner, who holds a contract with Nike, had their own shoe line, then younger generations would be more inclined to look into the WNBA. However, according to The Washington Post, there have only been 11 women in league history with their own shoe lines. Adding to this exclusive list could only benefit the league as a whole.

Greater and more positive coverage of women’s sports on steamed media would attract viewers, thus building audiences for the WNBA. The variety of negative factors feeding into how the media displays women in the sports world paints an image that presents women as boring, in term pushing away the masses. If the media were to portray women, specifically the WNBA, with more enthusiasm and provide better coverage of games and highlights then fans would be more inclined to support the league. The more support that the league receives benefits all those involved, especially the players.

References 

Bridge, A. (2019, May). Alyssa Bridge – Ball State University. WNBA: A League Where the Players Always Lose. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from https://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/202689/2020BridgeAlyssa-combined.pdf?sequence=1 

Cooky, C., Messner, M. A., & Musto, M. (2015, June 5). “it’s dude time!”: A quarter century of excluding women’s sports in … “It’s Dude Time!”: A Quarter Century of Excluding Women’s Sports in Televised News and Highlight Shows. Retrieved October 18, 2022, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2167479515588761 

Copeland, K. (2022, July 9). Why the WNBA’s first signature sneakers in 11 years mean so much. The Washington Post. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/09/elena-delle-done-breanna-stewart-shoes-wnba/