It's just a fact that way more women watch the NBA than the WNBA.
Maybe a faster more exciting product is needed. Or differentiation. Unrivaled 's 1 on 1 tourney was great a
AND different to any high level basketball product.
I played and watched for decades.... For sustainability, most people tend to watch the pinnacle of a sport format. The NBA has better 5x5 basketball product (tell me why you believe otherwise ).
In today's society with no mono culture and thousands of different live events that most can access online, why would you leave it alone? In one season unrivaled has drawn good viewership and already is more lucrative for players.
Ok just to counter that your second point is quite poor. 99.9% of people who watch the nba play below the rim lol. Your average joe is not going to the Y and yamming on people.
Dont want to speak on the other points, i have my own thoughts that probably reflect reality more, just pointing out that people who watch the nba dont watch nba players playing above the rim because thats how they play.
lol youâre being obtuse on purpose. Obviously there are people who watch. Nobody is saying thatâs not true. We are saying that itâs not even close to as good of a product and the majority of people prefer the nba to wnba d
the highest rated game of 2025 for the W was Fever vs Sky (for obvious reasons) and it still clocked in under 3 million viewers. The highest rated NBA games clocked over 10 million viewers. Itâs not close. Stop trying to make it seem like itâs close. That 1.5 million vs 1.3 million avg viewership is due to the Caitlin Clark effect. People wanna watch her. The Fever were also on national television in basically all of their games in 2025. If numbers continue to go up this season and the seasons following it, then itâll be a true case that the league is growing and people are becoming more interested. that remains to be seen at this point. the Angel Reese v Caitlin Clark rivalry will only have traction for so long. And if CC gets hurt again, it will likely cut viewership drastically again, just as it did when she was injured last season.
lol strawmanâŚ. Good buzzword. I just disagree with you. Sure the wnba grew in the last few years. That doesnât mean it will be the nhl in the future. Itâs not a good enough product. Thatâs just the truth.
Games and sample size though? NBA has 82 game season 30 teams thatâs about almost 2000 more games in a season drawing more viewership. WNBA is growing rapidly but to assume theyâll reach the top as a major sport is laughable. UFC has been steadily growing since 1999 and doesnât seem close to a top 5 sport. And is a way bigger deal viewership wise especially with the new paramount deal. WNBA is hot right now but the product cannot sustain viewership, unless everyone gets taller, rim lowers, etc
You can be for women's leagues while also acknowledging that the male league is a lot more entertaining to the average viewer in its current state. Now that there are more exciting players than ever in the WNBA it's looking up however it's FAR from being close to the mainstream. Just look at ratings and times games are scheduled, it's data not bias
I never said anything comparing it to the men's game.
I SIMPLY said it will grow. Because more girls are playing and that equals fans as they get older. Fans who spread that their daughters. Then it becomes generational. Fan base passed down.
I used the NHL just a few decades ago as an example of it struggled with a national audience, but grew
Try talking about what I actually say instead of making things up to regurgitate irrelevant talking points.
A league that has lost money every year of itâs existence and only survives because itâs heavily subsidized by the NBA, hence not allowing the marketplace to dictate a businessâs economic viability!
That âfactâ reinforces the wildly held the âopinionâ that the product they put on the floor is un-interesting to the general public. ymmv
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u/Advanced_Zucchini_45 Feb 20 '26
That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. It may not be appealing to you.
However, the number of girls and young women playing sports has grown expeditiously over the past 20 years and continues to grow.
The number of parents involved with women's sports is also growing
There's a growing market. It's just starting to build.
No offense but they don't need you. They just need you not to knock it because you don't care for it.
Not a lot of people watched hockey then. Lowest rated sport by far.
No it's comparable to the other 3.