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Comment on What is the deal with Caitlan Clarke and pretty much the whole WNBA is against her? She drains 3 pointers like I never seen and they treat her like ruffing up a man. Shouldn't they congratulate her?

Ostrakon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

You might assume that the point of the WNBA is to showcase the sport itself, but like all sports leagues the only thing they actually care about is whether or not people are watching and/or buying merch.

I’m not going to debate whether the quality of play in the WNBA is lower than the NBA because I am not a basketball fan, I don’t really watch either. But it is pretty clear that generally speaking way more people watch the NBA than the WNBA.

So if you can’t draw via the game itself? Make the game a drama fest. Highlight every time the undisputed best player gets fouled dirty by someone else and then there is an incentive for those players to do so - getting their name mentioned in the same sentence as Clark is a PR stunt in hopes of making more stars/rivals for people to want to tune in and see. You can’t get endorsement deals when nobody knows who you are, and I don’t imagine anyone loves Clark being in the spotlight almost exclusively.

WNBA is just legit pro wrestling as far as the coverage goes. Sucks for the players but I think it’s tough to compete with the NBA either way.

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BassTurd@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
I think you’re partially right. The thing is that she gets beat up and doesn’t get the calls. WNBA refs are notoriously bad. I believe that at least for the first year, she was selling out games and getting viewership. The WNBA has their golden goose and all they have to do is market it. They aren’t going to attract viewers for rough play in a way that hockey does for fights. They need to invest in the quality and exposure of their product not the rage bait. Where news gets clicks for hot takes, the WNBA isn’t making the bulk of their profits from journalism.

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