{"id":88,"date":"2024-08-24T12:32:03","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T16:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eiq.knx.mybluehost.me\/website_78d26930\/commethics\/?p=88"},"modified":"2024-09-10T19:58:07","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T23:58:07","slug":"catch-the-fever-a-case-study-on-the-popularity-of-the-wnba-and-the-lack-of-social-media-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/catch-the-fever-a-case-study-on-the-popularity-of-the-wnba-and-the-lack-of-social-media-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"Catch the Fever: A Case Study on The Popularity of the WNBA and the Lack of Social Media Coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Lexi Semanchik<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Caitlin Clark<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When you think of watching sports, many people initially think of leagues like the NFL, MLB, or the NBA. The one thing all of these leagues have in common is that they are men\u2019s sports, they\u2019re getting all of the coverage. When you scroll through your television channels, seldom have you seen women\u2019s sports being played in the past, but a slow and steady change has begun recently. This past year, the WNBA has exploded, with 157 million views on their social pages – up 356% from last year – and arenas are reaching 94% attendance rate, which is 17% more than last year (WNBA). The recent growth can most likely be attributed to the unavoidable fame of the rookie class which contains Caitlin Clark, the new all time leading NCAA scorer (Reed). This is not just within women\u2019s sports but also men\u2019s, she had an electric college career that has fully thrusted women\u2019s sports into the forefront. Combine her with other rookies like Cameron Brink and Angel Reese, and there is enough momentum to make it a sport people watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, with this incredible growth, it is not being reflected on social media pages or in the voices of sport sharing heavy hitters. Over their last 28 YouTube shorts, ESPN has only posted about the WNBA three times (ESPN). While this is more than would have been seen 5 years ago, it is still settling for the bare minimum. This may be affected by the fact that the WNBA only has 12 teams versus the 30 teams in the NBA, but shows there is significantly less investment in the league (Helbig). All women\u2019s sports are growing at what seems like an exceptional rate, but the WNBA is one that has the momentum right now to explode. In salary comparison, the minimum salary for an NBA rookie is a little over $1 million, while star players in the WNBA are making on average $242,000 (Greenlight). The NBA makes more revenue than the WNBA while simultaneously hosting over 1,000 more games than the WNBA (Jope). How can it even seem fair to compare the two leagues?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are the same sport, that\u2019s why. While there are some things that don\u2019t happen in the WNBA – very few athletes are probably dunking on a fast break – it is one of the sports that, beyond a few things, is the most like its male counterparts. All of the rules are the same, there are superstars that are incredibly exciting to watch, and there is a passion and love for the game that can be seen on the court. However, there is a continuous dismissal of sharing the WNBA from larger media conglomerates who are hesitant to break the status quo and make the first move into posting women\u2019s sports. The WNBA is heavily documenting their skyrocketing success, beating their own records multiple times over this year in terms of viewership, sales, social media analytics and tickets through press releases and increased content (WNBA). All of this proves that there is an audience for women\u2019s sports. It\u2019s one that is growing, excited, and ready to spend money and fill seats like all organizations are looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the rookie class of this WNBA season changed the trajectory of the sport for the better? How can that work be maintained instead of undone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the WNBA grown in the last 5 years in popularity? What has caused it and how can that growth continue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where on social media – not including the WNBA\u2019s own channels – has that growth been seen? Or are we not seeing it as much as we should?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What holds media conglomerates back from posting more about non-major sports that seem to have a following?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dsouza, R. (2024, May 8). Interest in the WNBA is the highest it has ever been, but who are the fans?<\/em>. YouGov. https:\/\/business.yougov.com\/content\/49344-interest-in-the-wnba-is-the-highest-ever-but-who-are-the-fans<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenlight. (2024, June 7). NBA vs WNBA salary: The Complete Breakdown<\/em>. Debit Card for Kids and Teens. https:\/\/greenlight.com\/learning-center\/earning\/nba-vs-wnba-salary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grieves, S. (2016, August 12). Aesthetics over athletics when it comes to women in Sport<\/em>. University of Cambridge. https:\/\/www.cam.ac.uk\/research\/news\/aesthetics-over-athletics-when-it-comes-to-women-in-sport<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helbig, T. (n.d.). What\u2019s the difference between the WNBA and the NBA?<\/em> Fan Girl Clothing. https:\/\/fangirlclothing.com\/blogs\/news\/whats-the-difference-between-the-wnba-and-the-nba#:~:text=The%20WNBA%20has%20fewer%20teams,each%20other%20all%20season%20long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jope, C. (2024, June 27). NBA VS WNBA: Revenue, salaries, attendance, ratings<\/em>. World Sports Network. https:\/\/www.wsn.com\/nba\/nba-vs-wnba\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karp, A. (2024, April 24). NBA\u2019s viewership steady in regular season compared to recent years<\/em>. NBA regular season viewership steady compared to recent years. https:\/\/www.sportsbusinessjournal.com\/Articles\/2024\/04\/24\/nba-regular-season-viewership<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lenthang, M. (2024, April 17). Caitlin Clark\u2019s Indiana fever Jersey becomes top-selling jersey for a draft pick<\/em>. NBCNews.com. https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/sports\/caitlin-clarks-indiana-fever-jersey-becomes-top-selling-jersey-draft-p-rcna148226<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nissen, K. (2024, March 28). Global NBA basketball viewers, 2024<\/em>. S&P Global Homepage. https:\/\/www.spglobal.com\/marketintelligence\/en\/news-insights\/research\/global-nba-basketball-viewers-2024#:~:text=The%20survey%20data%20show%20that%20the%20majority%20of%20NBA%20fans,of%20NBA%20viewers%20are%20male.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philippou, A. (2024, May 11). Aces star A\u2019ja Wilson announces signature shoe with Nike<\/em>. ESPN. https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/story\/_\/id\/40125084\/aces-star-aja-wilson-announces-signature-shoe-nike<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reed, B. (2024, March 3). Caitlin Clark passes Maravich to become NCAA basketball\u2019s all-time leading scorer<\/em>. The Guardian. https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/2024\/mar\/03\/caitlin-clark-passes-maravich-to-become-ncaa-basketballs-all-time-leading-scorer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reuters. (2024, July 12). A\u2019ja Wilson voted top female athlete at 2024 Espys | Reuters<\/em>. https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/sports\/aja-wilson-voted-top-female-athlete-2024-espys-2024-07-12\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romo, V. (2024, April 10). Women\u2019s NCAA Championship TV ratings crush the men\u2019s competition<\/em>. NPR. https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/04\/10\/1243801501\/womens-ncaa-championship-tv-ratings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Services, F. NBA. com N. (2024, February 18). Stephen Curry edges Sabrina Ionescu in landmark 3-point challenge at all-star weekend<\/em>. NBA.com. https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/2024-stephen-vs-sabrina-3-point-challenge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sexism in sport<\/em>. Women in Sport. (n.d.). https:\/\/womeninsport.org\/creating-change\/policy-positions\/sexism-in-sport\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stechyson, N. (2024, April 24). Women\u2019s sports are having a moment, but sexism is still holding back success | CBC News<\/em>. CBCnews. https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/womens-sports-sexualizing-athletes-1.7180765<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watkins, C. (2024, August 21). Connecticut Sun makes WNBA history with sell-out Boston game<\/em>. Just Women\u2019s Sports. https:\/\/justwomenssports.com\/reads\/connecticut-sun-sells-out-td-garden-for-wnba-game-in-boston\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WNBA. (2024, June 10). WNBA opens 2024 season with highest attendance in 26 years and most-watched games ever on national TV<\/em>. WNBA. https:\/\/www.wnba.com\/news\/tip-off-2024-success-breakdown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yang, J., & Holmes, R. C. (2024, July 19). WNBA\u2019s popularity Surge Helps League Land Breakthrough TV contract<\/em>. PBS. https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/wnbas-popularity-surge-helps-league-land-breakthrough-tv-contract#:~:text=The%20WNBA%20has%20been%20around,183%20percent%20from%20last%20season.Zhou, L. (2024, May 28). The WNBA\u2019s meteoric rise in popularity, in one chart<\/em>. Vox. https:\/\/www.vox.com\/culture\/352067\/the-wnbas-meteoric-rise-in-popularity-in-one-chart<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lexi Semanchik When you think of watching sports, many people initially think of leagues like the NFL, MLB, or the NBA. The one thing all of these leagues have in common is that they are men\u2019s sports, they\u2019re getting all of the coverage. When you scroll through your television channels, seldom have you seen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25,13,17,26,4,29,19,5,28,18,22,24,12,15,20,14,21,16],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aja-wilson","tag-basketball","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-cameron-brink","tag-case-study","tag-demographics","tag-espn","tag-ethics","tag-las-vegas-aces","tag-nba","tag-ncaa","tag-sabrina-ionescu","tag-social-media","tag-sports","tag-views","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-views","tag-womens-basketball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113,"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jjsylvia.com\/commethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}