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Parker makes case in WNBA commercials
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LOS ANGELES - The WNBA has borrowed a corner of the NBA playoffs stage in a bid to win new fans - men, to be exact.
In a TV marketing campaign launched last week during NBA telecasts, the WNBA shows three of its top players acting the role of what might be called a typical male sports fan. Two of the players, Candace Parker and Tamika Catchings, were stars at Tennessee.
"Sorry, you couldn't pay me to watch women's basketball," Los Angeles Sparks rookie Candace Parker says into the camera in one commercial. "Nothing exciting ever happens. Look at the WNBA. The league has stayed the same for 10 years. ..."
A voice-over asks, "She wouldn't say that. Would you?" The commercial ends with game film of Parker.
The WNBA acknowledges that most male viewers probably didn't give the commercials much attention - if they watched. Yet, as the league prepares to begin its 12th season in one week, it has reason to think it can change that attitude.
"Men really control sports consumption and conversations," said Hilary Shaev, the WNBA vice president of marketing. "Some men have misperceptions about the level of play in the league."
So they tested that theory.
"We took a controlled group of men and women and showed them game footage and, with the men," she said, "the positive perception of the game increased by 25 percent."
The three new commercials, one by Parker and the others by veterans Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever and Cheryl Ford of the Detroit Shock, target the usual comments the league hears from men - no defense in the women's game and wide-open jump shots - and debunks them.
Think the comments aren't usual? Two Lakers fans at the National Sports Grill in Anaheim might be proof enough.
"I don't think it's that physical," said David Moser of Corona. "I don't think it's competitive as much. Not to be a male chauvinist too, but it's women playing ball. . . . We're ready for the Lakers game, that's a real man's sport."
Mario Pineda, the other jersey-wearing fan, has never been to a WNBA game, but said, "It's a little slow-paced . . . and what makes the game is the fans, the atmosphere. You go to those games and you barely get, what, 5,000 people?"
Parker, who has dunked, said winning male fans is tough, but "once they see it, I feel like they'll come back."
She also said men should expect a "fundamentally sound" game rather than high-flying dunks or powerful inside moves. Men may "jump higher and are stronger and faster," she said, but "from a skill perspective, John Wooden has said it best, that women played the purest form of the game."
David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute, said that fundamentals are pleasing, but "nobody pays $3,000 for a courtside seat to see Kobe make a perfectly placed bounce pass."
Carter cautioned the WNBA about two things: Don't guarantee a quality of play that would compare to the NBA, and balance "the athlete with the sex appeal that's an undercurrent throughout sports."
Added Parker: "Just getting people to open their eyes to understand that our game is completely different than the men's, and different isn't bad."
To watch the videos go to http://www.wnba.com/expectgreat/
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Posted by lnbadger320 on May 12, 2008 at 10:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
amazing this league is still around. i guess nike needs some losses to help with their tax breaks.
Posted by orangebloodgmc on May 12, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
So they are pitching this marketing campaign to guys ... and they just cut Brittany Jackson. Hmmm.
Posted by GreerVol22 on May 12, 2008 at 11:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
it really is unwatchable, if your honest about it.
Posted by orangebloodgmc on May 12, 2008 at 11:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
OK, I just watched Candace's commercial ... who's idea was this? I reminds me of Louisiana's wetland conservation/restoration PR that said "Don't be a big loser." It made people just want to change the channel.
Posted by TurboFan on May 12, 2008 at 12:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't even watch the NBA anymore.
Posted by UTfan4life on May 12, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
this is a great thing, well not the commercial it sucks, but the publicity for candance and the WNBA.
Posted by LadyVolFanForever on May 12, 2008 at 1:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Like Candace is quoted as saying in the article, women's basketball is totally different from men's.......thank goodness !
I don't care of the commercials either but at least Parker and a few of the other rookies are getting some people to maybe wonder about the WNBA and maybe they will attend a few games or watch on tv so their sport can grow. With all the young female athletes today, this is a good thing.
If you like the sport fine, if you don't, you don't have to trash it at every opportunity.
Posted by BigOrangeVol on May 12, 2008 at 1:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
All three of those clips are just lame! THAT'S why the WNBA only gets 5-8K to attend games... their marketing sucks. They have a good product just like the NHL but continue to have morons market their sport.
Posted by Volfantm on May 12, 2008 at 2:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Utterly uninterested in the NBA, prefer college basketball but may add more WNBA if I could see the players I want to watch.
Posted by orangebloodgmc on May 12, 2008 at 4:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Is there a Houston NBA team? If Candace's team travels that close to me, I will try to go see them.
Posted by orangebloodgmc on May 12, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I meant to ask if WNBA in Houston.
Posted by AllLadyVol on May 12, 2008 at 4:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There will always be those who say that the women's game just isn't as good as the men's. That's ok. The WNBA needs to hitch their ride to Candace and hang on for dear life, because she is EVERYTHING they've been needing and waiting for.
I'd like to see some of these boys meet Sylvia Fowles on a court. :)
And the Houston Comets have been WNBA champions several times.
Posted by AllLadyVol on May 12, 2008 at 4:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Kinda sad that somebody who lives near Houston and would enjoy a women's pro game hasn't even heard about the championship-winning WNBA team there.
Just speaks of the WNBA's pitiful marketing.
Go see Candace, orangebloodgmc.
Posted by ncvol on May 12, 2008 at 6:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Candice Parker played for Tennessee and since the Thompson Boling Arena was always packed with fans watching Pat Summitt and the Tennessee Lady Vols compete, she and the other WNBA players want that same energy at their games. Keep up the good work girls and things will improve. You have as much talent as the men.
Posted by IBleedOrange444 on May 12, 2008 at 7:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It isn't fair, but it is a tough problem that the WNBA is up against. If it weren't for the Lady Vols' success, I wouldn't give a darn about women's b-ball. However, since I am a diehard Vol and we are so dominant I've started watching the games and they are pretty exciting. While there are not going to be any posterizing dunks in the women's games, they are playing at a talent level just as high as the NBA, and I hope that the league survives and thrives.
Posted by KingsportVol on May 12, 2008 at 9:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Agree Greer.It's like watching fully clothed porn.The NBA is hard enough to watch.I do love Pat and our Big Orange women though.
Posted by hbvol on May 12, 2008 at 10:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow! Those promotional spots are just embarrassing. I love the lady Vols, and Pat, but the WNBA has an uphill climb, especially when their marketing genus' put out advertising like that. No offense to the ladies and their talent (which is considerable) but those spots make me want to watch Jeopardy instead. The women's game in college is just so much more fun, and passionate. It does the women a disservice to not have their pro game promoted any better than that.
Oh well, only 3-1/2 months till football season......sigh
Posted by fifet on May 13, 2008 at 6:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The NBA is nothing but running down to one end of the court dunking the ball then going to the other end and dunking it thats not worth watching give me the womens game any day. Go Lady Vols
Posted by vscebail on May 13, 2008 at 8:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The WNBA has got to be such a big let-down for former Lady Vols and UCONN players. Imagine going from 20,000+ fans per game and attention on the national stage to about 5,000 fans per game and almost no coverage what-so-ever. Oh, well... at least it's a paycheck.
Posted by chainbreaker on May 13, 2008 at 8:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm a huge Lady Vols fan and a longtime fan of women's BB in general. Honestly though, it pains me to try to watch most women's BB except for contests between teams at the very top of both college and the WNBA.
Outside the very top levels it appears that even the basic skills aren't there in high enough levels to keep way more games than should be little more than a painful-to-watch comedy of errors.
I've hoped and hoped for many many years that this would change and overall skills/game qualites improve enough to make most any game a fan elects at random to watch an enjoyable experience.
So far though, that doesn't appear to me to be the case, and until the bottom 85% or so of the women's teams/players close the skills gap on the top 15% it won't be.
I really do hope that the WNBA can keep afloat until this does happen so that we fans can continue to enjoy watching the play of not only the Catchings's and Parkers, but also the Spencers and Hornbuckles.
Posted by vscebail on May 13, 2008 at 8:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here's an idea: How about having WNBA games played immediately before regular men's NBA games. --Kind of like an undercard fight before a major boxing ring bout. Maybe it would get people into their seats a little earlier and provide some much-needed exposure for the womens' game.
Posted by lbmoore on May 13, 2008 at 8:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Why not put the WNBA franchises in markets where the women's college game has already been established and where there is a passionate fan base? Then allow it to grow from there instead of putting them in markets that already have a predominantly male NBA fan base.
Posted by vscebail on May 13, 2008 at 8:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, it seems like we, as casual observers, could already run the WNBA better than it is right now!
Posted by 98reax on May 13, 2008 at 10:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What a pitiful forum. All these opinions, most from males who will never, ever speak a positive word up for women's sports of any kind that does not involve "sexy moves and motives." If the participants were scantily dressed; if they were all buxom and beautiful; if indeed, they played 'to the male' viewer, the arenas would be packed to the brim and TV audience numbers would skyrocket. Sadly, that is the society we live in. That is where the female gender has been 'placed' in the universe.
There are some men who appreciate women for the person, the athlete, the professional they are. That percentage is very, very low.
To be fair, some women, possibly most women, know absolutely nothing about sport of any kind. They would not sit and watch NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball for anything other than admiring the 'player, if he has a nice looking anatomy.' (Those football pants are very appealing.) The difference there is, women rarely bother to bash men's sports, especially on a forum or in their routine conversations. As a matter of fact, most women could not care less about the outcome or quality of sports.
Of course the men who post on a women's bb forum are not the majority of the male population, so that's the "rest of the story."
Posted by LadyVolsEighTimes on May 13, 2008 at 11:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I was in a Barber Shop on Chapman Highway last week. Seven men were there and everyone of them was throwing out stats and speculation about the Lady Vols games from last year, and the prospects for them this year.
Ovr the 45 minutes or so Mens BBall and Football came up, but more as a validation of the women's program.
But this is Knoxville, were crowds often go above 19,000 a game and average 16,000, and have gone as high as 24,000. Despite teh good ole boy, often accused Rednecks, and other dibble associated with Southern Male fans, it doesn't really exist here.
WNBA players for the most part don't make as much money playing as they could just getting a job that thier degree trained them for. Three or Four have the superstar endorsement deals, but very few pay attention to what they are selling, and that probably runs more to Prep School Players.
Posted by camoman270 on May 13, 2008 at 11:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ill watch, just to see history with parker and leslie!!!!
Awesome combo and history setting!
Posted by tenacee on May 13, 2008 at 12:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have so many thoughts on why such a great game of BB is only played by women and yet it isn't watched. It sort of speaks of the mindset of our population. Not to bring politics into this. But just listen to the millions that say they wouldn't vote for a woman as president, only because she is a female.
This is where womens BB is. I have enjoyed watching womens BB for 30 years, whenever a game might be televised. And now we are getting access to more every year for which I am glad.
The WNBA is getting exactly what the NBA chooses to give them at this point. And the women are trying to make their game like the NBA.
Will this work I don't know. But I do know that I hope the WNBA survives. These are some pure BB players and for me a joy to watch.
Progress Is So Slow. Hang on WNBA.
Posted by 98reax on May 13, 2008 at 12:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good post, LV8T, a lot depends on where you are, who you are with.
When I lived in another city, my workplace majority was UT fans, now my hometown majority is crimson tide, yuck! Very few LV fans, fewer UT fans, but the most avid fan I associate with knows more about LV bb than I do (not really). He does know his Volunteer stuff.
Very few women know the difference in a homerun and a touchdown, unless it's their child scoring. It's almost the same with guys, but they don't really care as long as it's affiliated with Bear Bryant and/or lug nuts.
Posted by VolBallFan on May 13, 2008 at 5:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
LV8T, what were you doing hanging out in a barber shop?
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