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originally published on WildWeb, 8/4/99
Girls
With Balls
The WNBA's Secret Weapon
By ALLYSON KRIEGER / All my life, I've gotten funny looks when I say I
have to be home by 9 on Monday night to watch Al and Dan recount the opening
kickoff. Been tossed sideways glances when I'm the first to turn in my
tournament brackets for the NCAA office pool. Though I'm just a spectator
and not a player, I felt for the women of the WNBA when their attempt
to launch a professional women's sports league in 1997 was met with guffaws
and skepticism.
Truth be told, even I was a bit wary when first hearing that my fellow gal pals were taking it to the courts on national TV. Would watching the games be any fun? Would the women be competitive in today's media-saturated pro sports world? Would anybody really care? The answer to these questions, it turns out, is a slam-dunk resounding "Yes."
In
the Beginning: Seeing Red
Those
who think of women's professional basketball only in terms of its current
incarnation -- the totally modern WNBA -- might be surprised to learn
that the first pro team was formed way back in 1936. According to author
Terrie Bittner in her two-part Web feature "Women's Basketball History,"
the All American Red Heads traveled the country playing against men, by
men's rules.
(They were required to wear makeup. Ack.)
In fact, women's hoops has a long and interesting past dating to 1892, when a gymnastics coach at Smith College adapted the men's game for her own students. College competition began officially in 1969, and the first-ever Olympic team won silver at Montreal in 1976. Unfortunately for women looking to turn the sport into a career, however, no attempt at starting a professional league was successful -- until now.
In 1995, an organization called the ABL (American Basketball League) got the ball rolling (pun intended) by recruiting members of the gold-medal-winning U.S. Women's Olympic basketball team for a new business venture. The NBA followed shortly with its own women's league: the WNBA. (It's interesting to note that Bittner implies this was a sneaky, mal-intentioned move by the NBA, who simply didn't want to be bested by the ABL.) These two newest attempts to take women's basketball to the next level tipped off in October 1996 (the ABL played during the men's season) and June 1997 (the WNBA opted for the summer "off" season).
Times have changed a great deal since 1936, but even in the late 1990s, the WNBA and the ABL faced the obvious obstacles. The ABL could not surmount them and folded in December 1998. However, the WNBA is still going strong. So, what made the difference?
A Web
Ahead of the Guys
There's no doubt that the affiliation and financial backing of the NBA
has been pivotal in the success of the WNBA. (Former ABL CEO Gary Cavalli
said his league simply was unable to get the necessary TV air time and
sponsorship support to compete against the WNBA.) In addition, the WNBA's
decision to play when the men left the courts for the season -- which
some saw as a cop-out -- lessened its competition. One might argue, though,
that the WNBA's success is in part due to a secret weapon it wields with
pride and skill: A we-mean-business Web site that truly brings the game
to the fans.
Why the Web? To help counteract the built-in disadvantage of being both new and female, these women athletes needed an angle. An edge over the televised sports stranglehold that is men's baseball, football and basketball. In Dr. Mark F. Lewis' study on using the Web to promote women's basketball, he notes that the increased interest in both the Internet and the sport occurred simultaneously. Taking advantage of this coincidence is exactly what the WNBA has done.
Site Seen
By building a comprehensive, interactive Web site, the athletes of the
WNBA found a way to tip the scales in their favor. Some of the league's
players seem to put as much heart and soul into building the site as they
do practicing their jump shots, and the payoff is huge: A loyal fan base
follows the site and racks up thousands hits through per day.
At first
glance, wnba.com looks oddly familiar. Scroll to the bottom and you'll
figure out why: It's owned by ESPN. Visually, it's a carbon copy of the
NBA site,
with navigation, graphics and section names that are essentially identical.
Delving beneath the corporate cover, however, yields something altogether
different.
The women of the WNBA participate in chats, answer message- board postings and write their own columns. They post photo albums with personal notations, review movies and offer advice to aspiring young athletes via an online basketball clinic. They also very clearly want to be a part of league's online presence.
"They
love it," says Lisa Hyman, site manager for wnba.com. "I mean,
I get phone calls all the time from players asking to participate in the
Web site,
which is really unusual for a professional sport."
Rebecca Lobo,
perhaps the sport's best-known celebrity, writes a weekly journal for
the site. "I didn't want it to have anything to do with basketball,"
she explains."I
wanted it to be about all the humorous things that happen while we're
on the road, while we're playing. I just try to write down things that
make people laugh -- but they are all true things that happen in the life
of a professional women's basketball player."
What Lobo says is the heart of the wnba.com formula: A comprehensive online approach that makes the fans feel as though they actually know the players. Here is where you find professional athletes without the attitude, without the swagger and without the disdain for role modeling seen today in the Latrell Sprewells of the world. These women really want to be part of the community -- both online and off.
Lobo took some time out from her game to speak to WildWeb producer Rich Mello. While only a few quotes made it to our TV show, we present the interview in its entirety here. See it in RealVideo. (Need to install RealPlayer?)
The Final
Score
Just like I've had to prove myself to my guy friends that I could be both
a girl and a football fan by answering questions about the subtleties
of the NFL penalty system or the history of instant replay, the women
of the WNBA are proving themselves as a true force in the boys' club of
professional sports. They're off to a running start thanks in part to
a Web presence that's both progressive and personal. Go team!
WildWeb TV Show | September 07, 1999