"I'm Not a Fan of Women's Professional Sports...

I just haven’t had a team capture my attention." Says Amy Bergstrom, associate sports producer for seattletimes.com  

Really?  

Wake Up Call - Women Can't Continue to Speak Out of Both Sides of Their Mouth and Expect Anything to Change.

The Seattle Times article continues on to say "by fan, I mean a person who buys tickets for games, wears team apparel or follows in detail the progress of a team". The article then continues to say "but I am a fan of women playing sports professionally".

REAL SPORTS magazine's 2012 Most Important Moments in Sports edition recognizes the important legacy David Stern has played in the continued viability of the WNBA and covers the state of women's professional soccer in the US, which includes the next chapter with the launch of the National Women's Soccer League, which is a collaboration between Canada, Mexico and the United States soccer federations.  

Women's sports absolutely remains in a tenuous position.  Right now, the existence of the WNBA and latest attempt at professional soccer is absolutely because of powerful men who are willing to bankroll opportunities at the league or professional level, with some women now becoming team owners.

Over our fifteen years of publishing REAL SPORTS - I have reflected many times on how Dad's with Daughters were our best customer (when we were a print publication - meaning they were ready and willing to pay for a subscription) and it's interesting, now our best advocates are women (is it because we are now a free online publication?). Women's sports need both - women and men who combined are willing to put money down as a proxy for women's sports being relevant and advocates to expand the awareness of and interest and excitement in women's sports.

The Boston Consulting Group study states "women in the U.S. reported 'controlling' 72.8% of household spending".   Women have the ability to make financial decisions that can directly influence the viability of women's sports.  

However, if women continue to play to heartstrings and say giving girls the opportunity to play is important but not supporting the success itself through buying tickets, buying and wearing apparel and showing interest by following women's sports not just a specific team, then the Good Magazine article which points to a non-profit model/charity model being perhaps the only viable option for women's sports has merit.  Certainly for REAL SPORTS, the model we operate under now is self-funded out of a personal commitment to keep the issues of women's sports in the forefront.

The issue of building a solid fan base for women's sports extends beyond the professional ranks.  Living in Northern California, I have the luxury to see some of the best college basketball in the country with Stanford being close by.  At the recent #1 and #2 match-up between Stanford and UConn, Stanford sold-out the game with 7,392 in attendance, but that's a rarity in terms of selling out. Stanford's two prior home match-ups saw announced attendances of 4,217 against Pacific and 3,531 against Long Beach State.

Dec. 28, 2012, Stanford vs. UConn, sold out Maples Pavilion

If you find yourself in the camp of saying "it's important to have viable women's sports options (youth, collegiate, national team, and/or professional), what steps do plan to take to support the viability and interest of these?

Amy Love

Publisher/Founder

REAL SPORTS magazine