WNBA Tells Skeptics to Expect Great

Cheryl Ford by Jennifer Pottheiser/Goodby, Silverstein & Partners/NBA Photos

The WNBA’s 12th season gets underway next weekend, and the league is eager to attract new fans and change perceptions of women's hoops. A new marketing campaign, “Expect Great,” launches during tonight's Celtics/Cavaliers NBA playoff game (7 pm/ET, ESPN). In a series of ads that are clearly aimed at men, three top players — the Detroit Shock’s Cheryl Ford, the Indiana Fever’s Tamika Catchings and celebrated rookie Candace Parker of the L.A. Sparks — repeat the criticisms they’ve heard. The complaints are clearly contradicted by simultaneous game clips.

In Ford’s spot, the four-time WNBA All-Star says: "Let's be honest, your rec league team would smoke us chicks without working up a sweat. I'm afraid of contact, so you can post me up all day long. Plus, the lane will be open, because no girl is gonna take a charge. We want no part of your rec league team. Believe that." Then the screen goes dark and the words "She wouldn't say that. Would You?" appear.

Ford and Parker’s spots premiere tonight, while Catchings’ debuts on Sunday during ABC’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs.

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Cheryl Ford

Posted by

Rich Sands

May 8, 2008 11:00 AM

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This is why the WNBA struggles every year. They refuse to recognize the difference in the women's game. I'm a woman, but the truth of the matter is, most rec league men's teams would destroy a WNBA team. Most boys' high school teams would destroy a WNBA team. Men are faster, stronger and taller. That's just the way it is. Women's basketball as it is will always look like a slow, weak version of men's.

But look at how women in tennis have brought their sport to the level of being equal to the men. They readily admit that women can't compete with men on the same level. So they turned the game into something of beauty, an alternative to the men's power game. It's so different that comparisons to the men's game don't work. And they care about how they look. I'm not saying the WNBA should go out there in basketball dresses, but men have no reason to watch women dressed like men play a sport at a level well below what they themselves could play. The WNBA needs to look at the WTA for guidance, or they'll never turn a profit.

Posted by Alexis1997

May 8, 2008 2:22 PM

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Good for the WNBA!! It's great that they're looking to attract new fans. Bring it!!! And for those who STILL will find ways to criticize the sport, take a look and experience it for yourself. It may not be high-flying dunks & alley ups all the time, but it's solid picks-and-rolls, screens, box out, rebounding and passing. It's solid bball. We're not trying to say that we can play at the same level as the NBA but we're just as deserving as the men to shine on the court. I've been a season ticket holder for the NY Liberty for the past 10 years and I've seen the game change and right now it's faster and higher than when the league started. So c'mon, take a look! We have great players that can give some boys a run for your money -- bank on it!

Posted by ERSVULuvr

May 8, 2008 3:01 PM

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lol -> "alley ups" Women can't even spell alley-oop. No matter how much you advertise the WNBA, people still aren't going to watch it!
Posted by pyeman9 May 8, 2008 3:23 PM Report Abuse

Actually there is still debate around what identity the WNBA and its players want to have as a professional league.

On one hand you have sports writers and some sports fans who say that they would be more interested in the WNBA if there were dunks, alley oops, etc. On the other you have veteran players like Katie Smith and Swin Cash who don't believe that it should be a vital part of the game. They believe in the purity of the game they play, and don't think that trying to "emulate" men will get the league any farther than it already is.

I think a comparison to individual player sports like women's tennis is not a good comparison. These women will always be marketed differently and there is more opportunity to focus on appearance and gain sponsorships.

The problem is the WNBA is the only professional women's team league that produces a product that on the surface looks like it wants to rival its male counterpart. Which I'm not sure is entirely true. I personally like the new marketing approach and think it will serve them well.

Remember, the league is only 12 years old and still going through growing pains. Also, as women we should not add to the negativity by being quick to dismiss there various marketing strategies. Constructive criticism is fine and needed, but not one side arguments that echo patriarchal ideologies. If we do then we can't complain when another sport involving women gets the shaft.

Posted by sportsfan06

May 9, 2008 2:10 PM

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