Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 2015

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SDC
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Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 2015

Post by SDC »

because she's making big bucks in russia.

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Cap
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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by Cap »

This should be in the NBA folder. Close enough.

Anyway, bummer. I mean, good for her, but we have a title to defend.

I guess a WNBA title isn't much in the global scheme of things. That's sad.

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Flagrant Fowl
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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by Flagrant Fowl »

The WNBA would've folded years ago if it wasn't kept afloat by the NBA. The product isn't bad, it's just too far down on the pecking order for media and cultural attention from Americans.

It's too bad for the Merc, but I don't blame Taurasi at all for the decision. In fact, I actually respect her loyalty to the Russian club owner who is willing to pay her a salary way over what the Merc can or will.
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Ghost
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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by Ghost »

It's the smart move by Taurasi, without a doubt. Definitely unfortunate for the league and the Merc, but smart all the same. It will be interesting to see what effects this has on the league down the road if other players follow suit. That would be very bad.

As far as how much the NBA supports the WNBA, this is not actually as clear-cut as it seems. There is definitely support, but not as much direct financial support as you would think. In the earlier years, yes, but today not all WNBA teams are tied to an NBA team through ownership. And the NBA does not just pour money into the WNBA as some people think...in fact, to a large extent the WNBA serves as a marketing campaign for the NBA. But the league does exist independently of the NBA, and if the NBA decided to sever ties with it, it would not immediately mean the WNBA dissolves. The owners of the WNBA teams could continue on, if they wanted. Logos would likely all have to change, some teams might get kicked out of arenas if they were partially owned by NBA teams, and it would certainly change the face of the league. But the exact level of financial support they get is cloudy, because the WNBA leadership deliberately hides a lot of information, probably out of fear that the lower numbers they have would discredit the league somewhat (I personally think this is a mistake). They also have hurt themselves from time to time by trying to grow way too fast...I think they had 16 teams at one point, which was just too many.

There is a really interesting article I read about this a while back when I was doing photos for the Merc. I will see if I can find it, although it's going to be a little dated at this point.

By the way, Fowl...I'm not disagreeing with you about the importance of NBA support. Obviously, the league wouldn't exist without it, and if that support disappeared overnight, it would drastically change the way the league runs if it wanted to continue existing. But it would not necessarily destroy it on the spot, either.

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Nodack
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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by Nodack »

http://mic.com/articles/90845/how-much- ... s-vs-china

Take Brittney Griner, a three-time All-American at Baylor University who dominated the college ranks like few players in history (and even entertained trying out for an NBA team). She was the first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA draft, but as a rookie, could only make $49,440 per the WNBA's tight-pursed salary rules.

At the end of her first season, she played for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Women's Chinese Basketball Association and earned $600,000 for a four-month season — or more than a dozen times her maximum WNBA salary — posting averages of 24.1 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots.


http://espn.go.com/wnba/story/_/id/1227 ... ry-changes
For the 2014 WNBA season, the 33-year-old made just under the league maximum of $107,000. But she makes 15 times that -- approximately $1.5 million -- playing overseas. Now she'll make even more, as UMMC is essentially compensating Taurasi her WNBA salary and then some, to not play in the WNBA at all.

Money talks. I wonder where these overseas teams are getting so much money from. Is women's basketball that much more popular overseas?

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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by carey »

Good question. I had no idea.
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Ghost
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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by Ghost »

Money talks. I wonder where these overseas teams are getting so much money from. Is women's basketball that much more popular overseas?
My guess is that yes, it must be. As to why, basketball seemed to really take off internationally when Dream Team 1 destroyed the world in the Olympics without even breaking a sweat. I don't know how big the sport was locally anywhere but here at that point, but here, it was already a serious marketing force -- and was almost entirely considered a man's sport.

The WNBA, by comparison, is still pretty young by comparison. When it was formed, there was a lot of backlash from NBA fans who immediately (and often still do) tried to compare it to the NBA, which is frankly a silly comparison, as they are very different. I would guess that as basketball began to really thrive overseas, there was much less resistance to the idea of women's leagues, which may have already existed (I do not feel any desire to research this right now). So, they would have been able to capitalize on the growth of the overall sport more readily.

This post, by the way, is entirely speculative. I really don't know what I'm talking about. But that makes sense to me.

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ShelC
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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by ShelC »

The WNBA would be better served moving to smaller venues where they can max out capacity at 5-7k, create a great atmosphere and cut down on operating costs. Teams still play in NBA arenas where they're drawing 1/4 of the crowd but paying to open the building. Not a profitable situation. Plus, you have fans sitting in the mid/upper levels because of pricepoints while the lower bowl is empty. Go to a smaller venue, pack everyone in around the court, cut costs.

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LazarusLong
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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by LazarusLong »

"Money talks. I wonder where these overseas teams are getting so much money from. Is women's basketball that much more popular overseas?"

They don't have the stiff competition for the advertising and corporate dollar as they do in the U.S. There are four major professional sports in the lower 48, plus a fifth minor sport -- soccer. And NCAA sports, including major college football and basketball, figure into the equation.

In Europe and other foreign markets, it is soccer and little else. Men's pro basketball is big in some venues, but not the way the NBA is. Depending on the region, another sport like baseball or hockey shows it face, but does not dominate. So there is a more equitable treatment of women's pro basketball overseas, given the improving nature of the product.
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pickle
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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by pickle »

women's sports overseas is not *that* popular. i don't have experience in russia, but in China, i know that nobody watches the women's games. the only women's sports i see on TV here are volleyball and the odd curling match.

however, as LL says, there aren't as many professional sports here, and for a local team to win *something*, it's a great sense of pride for the city, and therefore, in the case of china, the local government and sports bureaus may very well pay some subsidies to the team. it's a lot more palatable to splurge on one dominant wnba player and make the whole team a champion than to pay two nba-rejects for a possible chance at the men's basketball title, for instance. and in the case of russia, again, speaking completely out of my ass, i wonder if it's maybe a cheaper investment for bragging rights for guys like prokhorov. i would venture to guess that for griner and taurasi, all their teammates combined don't make what they do alone.

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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by Indy »

pickle wrote:women's sports overseas is not *that* popular. i don't have experience in russia, but in China, i know that nobody watches the women's games. the only women's sports i see on TV here are volleyball and the odd curling match.

however, as LL says, there aren't as many professional sports here, and for a local team to win *something*, it's a great sense of pride for the city, and therefore, in the case of china, the local government and sports bureaus may very well pay some subsidies to the team. it's a lot more palatable to splurge on one dominant wnba player and make the whole team a champion than to pay two nba-rejects for a possible chance at the men's basketball title, for instance. and in the case of russia, again, speaking completely out of my ass, i wonder if it's maybe a cheaper investment for bragging rights for guys like prokhorov. i would venture to guess that for griner and taurasi, all their teammates combined don't make what they do alone.
So are the rosters there mainly one WNBA player and the rest locals?

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SDC
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Re: Taurasi announced recently that she wont play in wnba 20

Post by SDC »

just highlights the income inequality between the nba and wnba.

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