Week 2: The W.N.B.A. and Engagement

The fight for women's sports to be recognized as an equal of men's sports has been ongoing since the advent of women's sports leagues. Many teams and leagues to this day continue to fight long histories of pay disparities and assumptions about the marketability of women's sports.

In an article released Thursday, February 4th 2021, (W.N.B.A. Raises $75 Million With Hopes of Business Model Revamp) the New York Times reveals that the Women's National Basketball Association (W.N.B.A.) "has raised $75 million  from more than two dozen investors in a bid to revamp its business model as players call for expansion, higher salaries and better benefits." W.N.B.A. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is quoted as wanting to “market players into household names” both in the United States and abroad, hoping that more eyes on product will translate into more sustainable funding both for the athletes, teams, and league overall.

Many businesses are currently in the midst of a struggle for the eternal economic growth model, which has seen many industries begin to forsake engaging with existing customers in order to lure new ones in. The W.N.B.A. has not forgotten its longtime fan base of young women in the name of garnering fans elsewhere, and part of their plan is to expand their digital services with Google and Amazon Prime in order to start competing with the N.B.A. and other sports getting more prominent TV exposure, but that isn't the end of their digital forays. They have begun streaming their games on Twitter, which I believe gives them a edge in the TV market - not only does it provide a free point of entry, removing questions of pay barriers for many with disposable income, but providing a free stream of the games will help engage those with tighter budgets whose engagement will translate directly into advertiser revenue. 

This article serves as a concise jumping off point for their implementation phase - the New York Times is a massive platform that reaches millions of people each day, and has the gravitas needed to lend credibility to their effort. One can only imagine the ridicule the W.N.B.A. would face had it only had tabloids covering their efforts. 

The article also shows their thorough SWOT analysis: Internal strengths are identified as their existing structures that they plan on expanding, including their ability to provide their content (streaming games both live and recorded) without physical or national restraints, and the fact that their fundraising comes from instantly recognizable entities, including Nike and Condoleeza Rice. Internal weaknesses are their unhappy athletes, who voice their opinions and situations in public forums such as Twitter and can reflect poorly on the W.N.B.A. External opportunities come from their existing fan base of young women who turn to the W.N.B.A. as their only source of professional women's basketball, and the fact that large companies are willing to join the W.N.B.A. in streaming deals. External threats come from men's sports, which, as discussed, have a longer professional history and are given more prominent exposure, and are able to pay their athletes magnitudes more money which prevents them from airing grievances on Twitter.

It sounds to me that the W.N.B.A., while addressing that these factors exist, are tackling them in an orderly fashion so as not to overexert their budget and have to deal with the downfall of many weak , quickly constructed institutions instead of building strong foundations. Here's hoping that their strategy works and give women's sports the precedent to succeed and compete with men's sports on completely even footing.