In a move unprecedented in professional sports, the Women’s National Basketball Association is explicitly reaching out to the lesbian community to try to increase both ticket sales and television ratings. The Los Angeles Sparks recently participated in a rally and market promotion at a West Hollywood lesbian bar, the Girl Club.
Last year the WNBA’s Seattle Storm featured a controversial Gay Pride Night event, but this year the league seems to be taking the homosexual community more seriously as a market, with reports that marketing to the lesbian community was a major issue at a recent league meeting.
About to begin its fifth year, the WNBA has begun to see its popularity stagnate. Average attendance at games has stalled at a mere 9,100 and last year its TV ratings on NBC earned only a 1.4 share. It is true that this is a higher share than the NHL on ABC or even women’s college basketball on CBS, but the WNBA doesn’t have the sort of competition from other sports events that the NHL and women’s college basketball have. The bottom line, however, is still that the WNBA has yet to turn a profit.
Some marketers believe that the gay community is a promising demographic for sports teams. As Howard Buford, CEO of New York-based advertising agency Prime Access, told ESPN, “Many of these households don’t have children and thus there’s a higher dispensable income, especially for entertainment. In addition, there’s a higher amount of dispensable time that is available. It’s the perfect fit and is one of the reasons sports is so attractive to the gay community.”
The fear and the risk of such promotions, however, are the possibilities that more conservative fans who disapprove of homosexuality will stay away from the league because of its outreach efforts. Personally, I can see how that might have been an issue 15 or 20 years ago, but that sort of reaction is becoming increasingly irrelevant. This is a very smart move by the WNBA which really does nothing more than acknowledge what has been widely known about the WNBA for the past couple years — a large number of its fans are lesbians. Big deal.
Source:
A coming-out party for professional sports. Wayne Drehs, Espn.Com, May 24, 2001.