MonarchsTalk Week of May 28th

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Since the players and staff have an event on Thurs I’m guessing they are sticking to Wednesday unless a game conflicts. 7-9pm

339-1140 or 800-920-1140

[soapbox] I spent nearly an hour listening to a couple of uninformed radio folks discuss the WNBA and what they felt needed to be done to “make it better” they were the same tired old “the women should dunk”, “the women should play on a smaller court” “nobody can possibly want to sink millions of dollars into this sport because they believe in it, there has to be a hook” “I’d rather watch…..than the WNBA” You know…all that fun stuff that we’ve debated endlessly with Bee columnists, national ignorant people with axes to grind and the general population whose radios and tvs seem permanently stuck on 1140, CSN, ABC, ESPN or NBATV whenever a WNBA game comes on.

I make a plea most weeks during the summer to get folks to call Monarchs Talk….why? Because 1. we are the only WNBA team to have such a show and 2. the sponsors of said show probably would like to know that it matters that this show exists but probably most importantly to let people know the W and Ms do have fans out there. This is a public forum we have to make that fact known. The only other way we lend voice to our existence is whenever Breton writes something we take offense to. Then we flood him with emails. Call this station tonight and the rest of the shows this season to let them know you are out there and this team and league matters to you and that you want the show we get. We can’t silence the ignorance by acting reactively to something we don’t like. We need to start being proactive and that can be as easy as filling this show with callers who are passionate about this league/team or who want to be passionate about this league/team or who are learing how to be. You don’t even have to be local to call, there’s an 800 number available. Let’s pack the show this summer, bring these discussions to the radio airwaves…let folks know what the W fans are all about [/soapbox]

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Correction...

Monarchs Talk will be on Thursday from 7-9pm...KHTK will be hosting NBA coverage tonight.

 

[cometsluv4play]

I will do my best to make more virtual appearances via the telephone line this season just so you guys arn't getting all that " preachin' to the choir " disease thingy going around.

 

[StevenHW]

Thanks for the info!

Thanks for the info, even though I usually don't listen to talk radio.

At least Marcos Breton now writes for the SacBee's Metro section instead of the Sports section, so there's less chances of him bashing the Monarchs this year!

Us Monarchs fans are fortunate that we have a radio talk show that is strictly devoted to the M's and the WNBA in general. To my knowledge, no other city in the WNBA does that.

And that reminds me: is there any radio show (nationwide, and not local) that is devoted to women's sports? It doesn't necessarily have to be always WNBA-related. Most sports-talk radio show hosts (and their listeners) usually ignore women's sports, and when they do acknowledge them, it's done in a negative or mocking way. (Example: Jim Rome)

About ten years ago or so, there was a female sports talk-show radio host whose show was nationally syndicated at one time, even though I never listened to her show. I think she was called "The Fabulous Sports Babe". I never did know what her opinions were of women's sports and particularly that of the WNBA. Has anyone ever listened to her show?

 

[Shorty_Balla14]

oh god do not get me started on this. I hate when people (aka guys) bash the WNBA!! They talk as if us women dont deserve a league of our own and it bugs the crap outta me. Here's the usual conversation:

me: the WNBA is a lot more better to watch than the guys
guy friend: if you say so
me: well i do, have you ever seen a game?
guy friend: no
me: ok????

I thoroughly enjoy the WNBA way more than the NBA and it has little to do with me being a girl. For starters, it's nice watching athletes actually playing for the love of the game as opposed to whiny punks playing half-*** ball for millions of dollars. And to the haters who say "women need to dunk, blah, blah" get a life! the league's athleticism has grown SO much, its crazy. The past two monarchs final series have been more "electrifying" than any dam dunk I've ever seen. WNBA > NBA anyday!

sorry, this is my rant

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

oh god do not get me started on this. I hate when people (aka guys) bash the WNBA!! They talk as if us women dont deserve a league of our own and it bugs the crap outta me. Here's the usual conversation:

me: the WNBA is a lot more better to watch than the guys
guy friend: if you say so
me: well i do, have you ever seen a game?
guy friend: no
me: ok????

I thoroughly enjoy the WNBA way more than the NBA and it has little to do with me being a girl. For starters, it's nice watching athletes actually playing for the love of the game as opposed to whiny punks playing half-*** ball for millions of dollars. And to the haters who say "women need to dunk, blah, blah" get a life! the league's athleticism has grown SO much, its crazy. The past two monarchs final series have been more "electrifying" than any dam dunk I've ever seen. WNBA > NBA anyday!

sorry, this is my rant

This argument seems very flawed to me; it makes it sound like 1) only men bash the WNBA, and 2) all women's basketball fans support the WNBA, and c) nobody in the NBA plays for the "love of the game," none of which is true. You don't think that the players on the San Antonio Spurs or the Utah Jazz or the Detroit Pistons play for the love of the game? "If you say so," indeed, madam.

This article suggests that roughly forty-six percent of all NBA fans are women, and I can't help but wonder how much crossover there is between the two fanbases... I can't imagine that this forum, for example, could be considered a valid microcosm for WNBA fans, but perhaps it is. And, by my best guess, anywhere between forty percent and half of the active participants in this forum are fans of both the NBA and WNBA... whereas that split amongst NBA fans is probably something closer to 95/5.

I think that the hard feelings towards the Marcos Bretons and Charmichael Daves of the sports world are legitimate, but at the same time, the sport definitely needs to grow; it's not nearly popular enough to be able to sustain itself for any significant period of time. So the question becomes how do you market the league? I have personally long held the belief that the WNBA needs to find a way to draw the fans of the college game. I mean, if it were as simple as having a league where the players play for the love of the game, then the WNBA's fanbase wouldn't be less than half of what the women's college game is. North Carolina appears to be a hotbed of women's basketball, with a strong network of women's basketball fans, so why did the Sting go out of business? Why is it that people that turn out to watch UNC and NC State can't be arsed to watch a pro team?

For that matter, who is the WNBA marketing to? Do they even know? How are they trying to bring in ad revenue? How are they trying to bring people into the arenas? Have they just given up on this generation, and decided to appeal to the kids?

 

[Shorty_Balla14]

My post was more of a rant than an argument but since u brought it up....the point Im trying to make is 1) The NBA had rough beginnings too. People fail to recognize this, yet continuously exploit the WNBA's flaws (yes Im aware times are different) 2) People are quick to quip with their negative assumptions of the WNBA yet have never seen the product 3) People seem to bash the WNBA just for it simply being a women's league, but mask their argument with dumb reasoning like "they need to dunk more, etc"

Also, no Im not saying all NBA players dont play for the love of the game, but a good portion Im sure are more concerned about their multi-million dollar contracts whereas these ladies are playing for, at most 90,000. Despite the blunt salary gap, they bring it every night.

But whatever, like I said this was more of a rant, so take it as you may. No hard feelings.

I for one was an NBA fan and am slowly losing faith in that league

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Short answers? No the league does not imho know who it is marketing to or why. I have been under the long held belief and rant that the marketing this league does is shortsighted at best and misguided at worst. I think they do know the NBA demographics includes women, that was one of the many prevailing reasons folks believed the NBA got involved in the WNBA in the first place - to draw more women back to NBA. The MLB followed suit a few years later by bankrolling the newly resurrected professional softball league - same reason - cross marketing back to the MLB. Does that mean in the least they have an idea who to market the women's game to? Hell no, or else they'd be doing a helluva lot better job of it. The women's soccer league tried to convince the NFL to bank them, but to no avail. When the women's soccer league does ressurect itself, it may now have a tie to the MSL.

The college connection? Different demographic. Still majority women, still majority family. But it's priced differently since they do have more advertising and I would argue more media money to support it. Since these pro teams have to sustain themselves financially to stay viable and without media money their work is harder. And let's not understate the importance of media dollars supporting the major sports leagues, a point I think the CarmichaelDave's miss when they make their suggestions on what should be done because they are comparing this league to the NBA or whatever. This league does not have it...yet. Will it ever, possibly, given the way ESPN bankrolls the women's college game.

But back to the colleges for a second....look at the pricing structure of their tickets compared to that of the W. Its still more affordable for families and seniors (a good chunk of the college audience) to come to W games compared to ticket prices for other pro sports, but compare the pricing they do for the college game - its not the same. Now, advance this 10 years, it probably will be even less so. Ticket prices will continue to creep upward - these women are going to want to be paid more so the revenue to do so will have to come from somewhere. Hopefully it will come from media money, but even if it did, the price creep isn't going to get reversed.

Relatedly an idea bandied about on CD's show on Tuesday...play in smaller venues and charge less. Again, these women are going to want to be paid more at some point. We're going to want them to be paid more at some point so the W season doesn't just become a summer league for them to play in and make pocket change before they go to Russia/Korea/Spain whereever and make their bank. What we saw this year with the late arrivals affecting a vast majority of teams, it can only get worse as more ubertalented young players come into the league. I've had conversations with folks off the board...Chicago plays in a venue that at max can seat 5K. Where is your revenue coming from there and how can you price your tickets and keep them affordable? or more importantly, how do you keep your tickets affordable and not have to keep your team in a constant state of youngness/cheap salariness?

But for all that being said...should it be the case that you have to market the women's pro game to college women's game fans? Do they really not know the league exists? I'm only being partially facetious and partially rhetorical. I think the college fanatics that have an interest and the wherewithall to support both are here already. Charlotte didn't market to anybody once Shinn decided he was tired of city of Charlotte and of having the Sting- Robert Johnson was not nearly as interested, they aren't a fair assessment. I don't think however its an automatic connection that supporters of the college game automatically want to follow the pro game - especially with their money. The W clearly has an audience made up of different strata of sports fans, they just need a different (read: more damn creative) way to get them into the building.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

... I don't think however its an automatic connection that supporters of the college game automatically want to follow the pro game - especially with their money...

I recognize that; the question is why not? Every time I talk to people who don't like pro sports in real life and ask them why not, they always mention code words like "passion" and "love of the game." And, when people like Shorty_Balla14 talk about why they like the WNBA over the NBA, they make use of the same code words... so why isn't there more cross-pollination? Why do people who follow college sports for these allegedly virtuous and purist and honorable reasons not follow the WNBA for those same reasons, when the W is purported to uphold the same virtues?

 

[Shorty_Balla14]

^^ you speak as if those "code words" are the only reasons I prefer the WNBA over the men's game. And I am thoroughly confused by your tactics. Your "marketing campaign" suggestions seem to be an attack to my opinion.

Anyway, if you truly want to talk marketing, i'll give in my 2 cents. Though the WNBA could do more to lure in college fans, I think it's to their best benefit that they continue to do their part in marketing towards kids. Their tagline, "Have you seen her" has broad appeal, but their further campaigns towards "fathers and daughters", etc is a good target market. I believe college fans are too "old" to be that influenced by the W. If they are bball fans as I, a 21 yr old college student am, they will have no problem finding their way to the W.They have more or less formed their opinions. The youngsters though, having grown up with the league already in existence, have athletes to look up to, idolize, etc, etc.. So why not secure a strong future fan base composed of kids, tweens, teens...?

 

[kennadog]

While revenue is obviously important, a lot of people are fans of college sports without ever going to a live game and paying for the tickets, because they don't live near enough to attend. A lot of NBA fans never buy tickets to a game, either.

For revenue, its probably more important that lots of people watch games on TV and spend money on team paraphernalia, etc. Which is a conundrum to me. If not many games are broadcast, because there's not enough interest, how do you reach a wide audience to perhaps generate interest? How do you reach potential fans?

College teams, in some ways, have a built in audience as its base. And a lot of colleges are in towns where their sports teams ARE the only local sports teams. They've had longer than the WNBA to develop a fan base. Some folks just like college sports better than pro, women's or men's teams.

Some will say, if the product is exciting enough, it will attract fans. Unfortunately, plenty of people I talk to just aren't interested in women's sports, period, because they think its an inferior version compared to the men's game or they aren't interested in sports at all.

Do women play the game as well as men? I would argue that they play differently, which isn't the same as inferior. I can appreciate and root for the excellence of male and female athletes, without comparing them. I can enjoy the performance of a male or female sprinter or ice skater, for example. But that's me and there is still clearly a lot of prejudice in this country against women in more areas than just sports.

I do think the target has to be families with children. That's where future fans are going to be, if the league is to be successful. A lot of people are Kings fans, because its the team they grew up rooting for; its the team they watched with mom and/or dad; its in the city they call home; it was part of their bond with friends; etc. Its great childhood memories that you want to pass on to your own children.

Hopefully the WNBA can survive long enough to develop its fan base. If it fails, it won't be because its atheletes or game are inferior, it'll be economics.

I hope it survives and flourishes. All I know, is when I first started watching the WNBA my thought was, "Boy, I wish I'd had a team of professional women athletes like these to look up to when I was growing up." My sports heros were men. Nothing bad about that, but it would have been nice to have had options.

I guess this ended up being long.

 

[Airfoil]

khtk.com stream is working in case anyone was wondering.