They probably write it off as a donation, since they (WNBA) make no money themselves.
[Reply]

It's not ok for players who are not elite to taunt elite players.

-Chris Jones taunting Brady? We good.
-Tyreek throwing the peace sign up to trash DB's? He sucks anyway.
-Kelce nut punching lowly NE players with the ball? Give that man an extension.
-Steve Smith running his mouth to any DB he faces? That's just what he does.
-Reese acting like the diva she is to Clark? She's a witch, burn her!!!
[Reply]

Your second point is irrelevant to what I was saying and belongs in a DC thread.

Yeah I highly doubt the WNBA will be profitable, if ever break-even, but I don't see an issue for encouraging younger people to be more active or interested in a sport through women's basketball.
[Reply]

But it is true.

They would drop it if the media backlash wouldn't be so contrived.
[Reply]

If the NBA wants to lose a LOT of money doing that, more power to them.
[Reply]

Encouragement only goes so far. At some point there needs to be actual support and there isn't any support for the WNBA. It's not womens tennis, gymnastics, track and field, skating, etc... no one fucking cares about WNBA, not even the feminists give a shit to support it. It's just straight up boring as fuck to watch when you can just as easily switch the channel to a mens game and be infinitely more entertained.
[Reply]

No, I don't think so. I think there may be some spillover from WNBA revenues into the NBA that don't make the losses on an annual basis be as large as they're reported ($10-$15 million a year) as I'd guess there are some fans of the WNBA who also spend $$ on the NBA in addition to people who usually don't spend $$ on basketball.

It still is a break-even or slight net-gain for owners, I would guess.
[Reply]

That is true. It's not political, it just sux.
[Reply]

They most likely aren't losing money with all things considered, though. And if you don't like something, you don't have to watch it?

You're not wrong and I understand college is different than the pros and the NBA doesn't do a great job at promoting the WNBA/the WNBA isn't great. But for some to act as if it's a heinous act is shortsighted (not saying you are).
[Reply]

It is called swallowing the bullet so they don't get railed with bad press every single day for not supporting women's basketball.

It is pretty obvious. Both ESPN and the WNBA are forcing a financially losing product down our throats because they don't want to seen as the bad guys.

Look at the media narrative. It is basically if you don't like women's basketball, you are a backwards dinosaur.

For the owners, it is easier to take the slight bath then have to deal with the ravings of the mob.
[Reply]

Iowa were down 20 when she was only on two fouls tbh and LSU had foul problems themselves with Reese and others.

Just seen the Iowa postgame press conference. Lots of tears flowing from Catlin and the coach, tough watch.
[Reply]

ESPN has the media rights to the WNBA and women's college basketball. It's in their interest to promote it. :-)

That's like bitching about why doesn't the NFL promote MLB?
[Reply]

I imagine it does ok. It’s an excuse to use capacity on a bunch of arenas that are really easy to maintain. Kind of the same deal with XFL but with way less upkeep. That’s a ton of overhead they don’t have to worry about.
[Reply]

Two offensive fouls a lot for a shooter.
[Reply]

It was beautiful! :-)
[Reply]