Guest Post – She Got Game Too: Is the NBA Dance Bracket’s Time Up?

Oops, I meant "yoke" not yolk.

And while I am breaking eggs I'll say I know gals that like the dancers. Cause they like the energy, the dance moves and some of them even think the dancers are hot too and we can agree on all that!

If you don't want to watch the dancers, bring your knitting or a book or go get a wine spritzer or talk to your friends or kids instead.

Teams, any teams, had cheerleaders to help get get crowd support and build a homecourt advantage. Cheerleaders lead cheers. Graduallly the cheerleaders decided they wanted to be dancers. Teams let them.

I think it is kinda funny that almost none of the guys say they like or cared about the cheerleaders. Most don't care much, I mean it is not that big a deal, but most don't want to admit that they look and enjoy- not just the gyrating bodies but the positive energy as opposed to the yolk of work and often the yolk of homelife.

The women want to be "marketed to". Ok that's honest. But you're also saying you don't want negative marketing influences that bug you even though they might help market to men, especially men with big bucks and business clients sitting close to the courts or in the suites. Well I can see the market to me stuff but you can't tell a business not to market to other people and expect to succeed.

And any guy will tell you they've know dozens of women who when choosing or getting caught watching sports talk about the players butts. Ok be a woman with a nature driven sex drive. I'll be a guy with one too.

Great article. I completely agree with your points. I am female and have been to Hornet's games with groups of women as well as groups of guys where I was the only woman. The guys ALL told me that they felt uncomfortable with a female friend there when the dancers were performing. I might mention that I was not, nor have I ever been "romantically involved" with any of these guys; it wasn't a "you're looking at other women" issue. The guys all admitted that the dancers were totally objectified as sexual entertainment and having another woman there "embarrassed" them...One of them even said they would not go to a strip club with a female friend and that was what they felt like! I was surprised to hear them say that...I honestly thought women were the only ones who noticed.

As for the pink t-shirt issue- my dad is also a Hornet's fan and we have attended some games together. He bought me a pink t-shirt, so I have to wear it! Otherwise, I prefer to wear t-shirts that have the actual team colors.

Regardless of male opinion on whether or not they should be there, the dancers do in fact alienate female fans. No, the NBA does not try to market to us; in some ways they go out of their way to make games feel like an "all-boys" club and that we do not belong. Unfortunately, I don't think the Hornets care. As long as 19 year old women are signing up by the hundreds to audition the dancers will remain. Now that I think about, I love football more anyway. GEAUX SAINTS!!

Hi, I'm a woman and I love the NBA. I think diehard female fans are going to remain a tiny niche demographic until the nba stops acting like the beer commercial man and maybe his son are the only people who really love the game. A woman at an nba game has two choices for non game watching related activities, be ignored or be patronized.

So I go to games when tickets are cheap, because I don't enjoy watching my team lose to big drawing away teams. I don't really see myself going to more games until they decide to stop marketing to obsolete ideas of their fans.
There isn't any reason why girls can't be diehard fans, I've seen plenty of them for high school and college teams, but professional teams don't seem to allow for the possibility, so those that do exist live in the shadows, thousands of individual phantoms of the banknorth sports garden telecom center...

Commentary by a hormone-riddled 23 year old male

Awesome article. Period. You bring up a number of fantastic points which can and should be addressed (even though unfortunately given the speed of the league and its governance this probably won't happen)

For anyone interested in this trend at the most macro of levels and which is not basketball related, check out an amazing book called Women Want More which draws on the most comprehensive (scale and scope) analysis of women's purchasing habits/power in history. Boston Consulting Group demonstrates that in the years to come, while the economies of China and India combined are forecast to grow by about $3.5 trillion, the purchasing power of women in particular is forecast to grow at $5 trillion....I put a link to their site in case anyone's interested.

Thank you for the article and giving an honest, open and unbiased perspective.

Re: Ability of women (I think someone brought that up here), has anyone seen Doris Burke do a live broadcast? She absolutely sucks. Insisting that Michael Jordan hit his last shot against Utah over CRAIG EHLO, and getting mad and arguing when the other panelist told her it was Byron Russell. She seems to have a chip on her shoulder and she thinks she's better than the guys. It's also really uncomfortable hearing her get excited, because it hurts the ears when she screams. Now, I know not all women broadcasters are like that, I love Cheryl Miller, but if ESPN gets Doris Burke as part of their national television PLAYOFF broadcasts, shouldn't she be one of the best in the country? And if that's one of the best women broadcasters in the country, what does that have to say about the capabilities of women?

Great piece Sarah - I really appreciate it. I suspect from the quality of your comments in this thread that you are not willing to be sucked into debating some of the heinous comments. Very nice. I hope I can keep it that refined.

A lot of issues have been covered here, but one thing is nagging at me. A few commenters have tried to cut into the 40% female fan base by saying, "most of those women aren't serious fans." As if, "well most of them don't really count." Check yourselves. This type of comment comes across as a blatant and ignorant disregard for women in general. I've been to a poop-ton of NBA games and my observation is that a high percentage of attendees - of all ages and genders - aren't super-serious fans. I've also been alive on this planet long enough to know that, in general, men enjoy a broad sense of entitlement to sports fandom, making it extra-obnoxious when they suggest that women should somehow work harder to earn the right to be marketed to (i.e. acknowledged).

@ticktock6

You're welcome! And my pronoun preference is she, so "heroine" is fine. As someone who has played and watched sports my entire life, I could definitely relate to what you were writing. I understand the NBA is a business and the NBA didn't invent the objectification/marginalization of women, but does that mean that as basketball fans and consumers we are resigned to the false idea that hetero men play sports the best, therefor hetero men watch sports the most, understand sports the best, and should be catered to by advertisers/businesses using half naked women?

HECK NO! This is a very long line of troublesome assumptions underpinned by a very long history of gendered expectations.

Anyway, I didn't mean to go on and on about the dancers. I know that's not the totality of your point. But I think it is a striking example of what you are trying to illustrate, that the NBA focuses on a belief that its audience is hetero men and that women, like ourselves, remain fans IN SPITE of its attempts to entertain men. In a way, we are more dedicated fans because we put up with the ridiculousness that is the dance squad.

That sounded defensive. I'd delete it if I could. I'm just saying my takes on the dancers was more a comment to the discussions about dancers that came after this post.

Great post, Sarah.

I read this piece, the truehoop piece and much of the twitter followup

@ticktock6

Thanks for the reply. It's funny, after asking that question about marketing materials I came up with a list in many respects like yours that I posted on dreamshake. Obviously I missed on a few that you posted, but I did it in two minutes and here is your list. So yes, obviously it is possible to ask marketing questions that will elicit useful responses from the female fan base. My earlier post wasn't terribly well thought out.

As for writers, yes please. I'd like to see more thoughtful comment, and I'd like to see more female writers posting. I welcome any thoughts on encouraging that more. I see a reader from our site has posted above, and I certainly hope she hasn't felt unwelcome. We don't mind somewhat salty discussions, but don't want misogyny/racism/homophobia period.

As for women in management positions in sports, it's changing, but slowly. The receptiveness seems to vary greatly by organization. Some are still very much "boys clubs" and that outlook shows up everywhere from the front office to the team on the floor in many cases. Any jobs in the field are few compared to almost any other business and the vast majority are in sales/marketing. Then some organizations seem to insist on ex-NBA player bosses...

Like this article a lot, Sarah. Living in Cleveland, I saw a lot of my female friends become Cavs fans and organizing trips to games. I wondered myself how they felt about the cheerleaders. Good to see one person's opinion on it.

Raquel is my new hero(ine). That was a fabulously well-thought out response. Thanks! Oversimplification is the word... for instance because they saw "WOMAN" "POST" and "CHEERLEADERS" a lot of people made assumptions about what I was writing about without reading.

@ Xiane

I think, for me, the sort of female-oriented survey I'm talking about wouldn't be too different from the other surveys I've taken-- ones on concessions and whether I care what charities the team is giving money to. Stuff like, "Are you aware of the Ladies Night promotion?" "Does the advertising appeal to you?" "Do you feel condescended to by the language used in female-oriented promotions?" "Rate how you feel about such and such entertainment".

It would be nice to see the effort. It would be nice to see female writers on the NBA and more teams' sites in a visible capacity. Knowledgeable ones, not "cute" ones.

the league goes to Asia and Europe to expand the fan base, while at the same time ignoring a growing fan pool here.

BTW- I don't know that the baggy t-shirts given away by teams particularly fit men well either? I think generally blank white t shirts are just ugly unless they are fitted somehow. And generic t-shirts that are mass produced to fit large numbers of people always get printed on these ugly t-shirts. SFMOMA had a bunch of custom made t-shirts with cool references to past art exhibits made up recently, but they were all printed on hideous t-shirts, so I wasn't about to buy one. Same basic idea here I think.

They should definitely have a full variety of ugly shirt sizes to hand out though- aside from women, kids wear these. But there's not a lot of personalization when shooting things from an air cannon.

Sign me up as one of the 40%... Like Sarah, I'm a single female in that magical age range 25-34... and I couldn't care less about the "Automotion" or "Power Dancers" on the court... but her point about the NBA not seeing us as an important part of their audience is frustrating and something that would be nice if they recognized.

I pay for my league pass each year... since there is no NBA team in my hometown... I do buy the jerseys, but have no interest in a pink one... I think babies are cute, but I have none.

The point of Sarah's post, and something that I agree with, is a little recognition and marketing towards me would be nice.

At least Houston has a Girls Night Out to match their Guys Night Out promotion! But I don't see a calendar of the ball players dressed up.. or maybe I should say barely dressed like there is one of the Power Dancers.

I would love to see the numbers of how many males and females work for each department for the teams. My guess.. all the females are in ticketing and accounting.

The NFL, NHL, MLS, and MLB all have women only dance squads/cheerleaders/ice crews. Rugby and cricket have cheerleaders. Boxing has ring girls.

There certainly seems to be a line of thinking that: 1)the people (read, heterosexual men) who attend these events will enjoy seeing scantily clad women, 2)if they don't, then there is something wrong with them (ie, they are gay, feminists, or worried about political correctness) and they shouldn't spoil the fun for others.

Of course, this line of thinking is not particularly logical.
It's the same line of thinking that leads to making pink jerseys the "women's jerseys." It's oversimplified and, like most oversimplified assumptions, incorrect. Not every heterosexual man finds the dance squads terribly entertaining. Not every fan is a heterosexual man. And even if that were the case, what are we to make of the NBA being so concerned about the image of the league that Stern institutes a ridiculous dress code, but the image of the cheerleaders/dance squads is completely fine?

There's nothing inherently wrong with a team having cheerleaders. That's not my point. The WNBA has cheerleaders/dance squads with male and female participants. But in the context of watching professional male athletes, having squads of young women wearing very short, tight skirts/shorts and usually exposing cleavage as entertainment, is suspect.

This is not to bash the women who do this, but to look at the larger scope of gender roles, expectations, and value, and wonder...

Are cheerleaders actually leading a cheer anymore? You can't even hear a cheer in the big arenas and stadiums of today. What is the purpose of their presence?

Why don't they wear the same uniform as the team?

Why don't the Bulls, and all other NBA teams, have chiseled, half naked men come out and dance at every single time out and half time?

Wouldn't it be great if the marketing of teams were based on the love and entertainment value of the sport? And not turning women into an extra layer of eroticism that has absolutely nothing to do with the sport.

Like Nick mentioned above, the NBA is pandering to the lowest common denominator - or what is presented as the lowest common denominator. But that doesn't mean we have to accept the lcd as is, or how businesses pander to it. So thank you, ticktock6, for taking the time to bring this to light.

I think the points of the post are generally very sound, and I'm frankly baffled by hostile reactions.
(I posted this on my "home" site as well.)

There are two points she makes and one is not necessarily related to the other.

1. NBA/Team marketing ignores or dismisses a significant portion of the fan base in a fairly serious way.
2. People on the internet are often crappy, particularly to women.

1.

I do think that not having any authentic items, or giveaway items in sizes to fit women is a problem and a blind spot. I don’t think those items have ever appeared, so it can’t be said it was tried and there was no market. Sure, some women will want pink rockets jerseys and so forth. But if a woman doesn’t want pink, what’s her option? Swimming in a male-sized shirt, evidently.

Should the Hornets and other teams ask Tolscer and others questions specifically as women? Do we really need to get to the question of whether some women are correct in asking that their gender be considered in media/marketing approaches to them? It comes down to whether there is such a thing as “general marketing” or is what we think of as “general marketing” simply marketing to males. I honestly don’t know. I’ve answered those surveys, and I’m not sure what a female oriented questionnaire would look like.

For example: On a scale of 1-5 rate the freshness of the concession offerings.

And when asked if I want to see more of the "Rocket Power Dancers", "Launch Crew" or other entertainment, I always answer that I want as little as possible of ALL of it. Clearly this is a losing battle, but I don't have to be "entertained" every second.

As for the "Dance Bracket" I'll just duck out with my wife's take on the "Power Dancers" - They're completely free to be ridiculous, but they're still ridiculous.

That said, if there are well-reasoned complaints, from real fans who represent a big slice of NBA demographics and a bigger slice of purchase decision-making, then it behooves the NBA and teams to take that seriously.

And never underestimate that decision-making/influencing power. It used to be that companies that sold pools centered their advertising around bikini-clad hotties lounging around a pool. Then some changed to ads featuring happy families swimming and having fun together. Guess which sold A LOT more pools? Guess who made the decisions about pools? Are you listening, NBA?

2.
On the internet side. Well what can you do? On the internet no one knows you’re a dog. Gender need not come up either, unless you want it to. For a long time I think there was no gender association for me. My handle has no gender, my avatar is an ugly fish.

As for the tone, well, now that I can moderate interaction somewhat on another site, I’ve wondered where to draw the line. No nasty misogyny allowed, obviously, but do I wag my e-finger at someone for writing “Tracy McLady”? There are plenty of things written in very questionable taste, and that’s far from the worst of it. I think that stuff is largely part and parcel with the general incivility of the internet. That incivility takes many appalling forms, racism, misogyny, homophobia, religious hatred, and the winner by miles, utter social maladjustment. Obviously something that attacks one's identity or core beliefs is going to get one's attention. But what's to be done, aside from stopping it short whenever practical?

Xiane - thedreamshake.com

On her twitter page ticktock6 says that the Dancer thing specifically was kind of a hook and she's more focused on the greater point of NBA outreach to its female fans.

I agree that's a great point. I know several women who love the NBA, and relate to it closer than other sports. Not on the superficial "I root for this because my boyfriend/brother does!" Pink Jersey phenomenon. At the warriors/lakers game I attended last week I sat next to a couple where the girl clearly dragged her boyfriend to the game. These fans deserve respect and inclusion in the total NBA experience. And the misogyny of responses on the internet is just another example of sad people venting their life problems anonymously on the internet.

However, with all those caveats intact, I think making the problem about the dancers is wrong. What are the potential objections to them? They objectify women or present unrealistic body images? That there isn't an equivalent male dance squad to attract women? On both these fronts, the counter is the actual team of NBA players.

There is a lot more action with tall, extremely athletic specimens running around getting sweaty than there are dancers at the games. The players wear more clothes than they used to, but not that much. If I compared myself against the average NBA player, my body image would suffer too. And I know that attraction plays a big part to most of my female basketball fans- though not in a way that diminishes the content of their viewpoints.

Dancers are displaying a hard earned, advanced skill when they go out there, just like the nba players. And while they may be hired in part due to how pretty they are, their ability to execute their job is by far the primary consideration. The notion that they are somehow wrong while the NBA is some completely different animal seems absurd to me.

The inclusion of the dancers on the front page of websites might also be absurd, but even if 40% of fans are female, that still leaves 60% as men, so I understand. I've never participated in the cheerleader bracket thing, but I think it should reasonably be an alienating factor either. If they wanted to run a similar bracket for women ranking attractive NBA players it wouldn't affect me at all.

@ otherMark

I'm really not nitpicking the Hornets. I think they do an all right job. I do, however, question that they can't find ANY women in New Orleans to EVER EVER EVER (seriously, I've had tickets for 3 years now) participate in the on-court shooting things or the tricycle race or ... you get the idea.

maybe if the nba didnt lose 10s of millions EVERY year supporting a failed league(WNBA) then the league could focus more on its female fans instead of throwing money at a sport that no one wants to watch(at least not enough to be sustainable)

The product successfully appeals to a surprisingly large female audience already. So, perhaps what the writer thinks would make it more attractive to female fans is a fallacy.

The biggest problem the NBA has? They don't market specifically to me and 20 of my friends nearly enough.

For fuck's sake, get over yourself.

I'm interested in this take on the Hornets marketing to women. I definitely enjoy the dancers for all the stereotypical reasons (I had a season ticket-holding professor who called them "the Hor-nays"), but I've been surprised to notice many positive reactions of women in my section to the dance team. Many of them are either critiquing the dancing, or are openly enthusiastic about the performance. I expected to see more disinterest or negativity from female fans.

I'm also highly entertained by the Used-to-Bees, which seems to be geared toward encouraging people of all ages to have a good time and not take themselves too seriously. I don't know how many cities embrace letting les bon temps roullez to that extent, but this city and this crowd seem receptive to any kind of fun performance.

Finally, I appreciate the merits of getting kids involved in dancing and performing, and that the Hornets junior dance team is about 50-50 boy-girl. Nonetheless, youth cheerleading and dance squads make me uncomfortable if they incorporate outfits and dance moves that sexualize little kids.

Stern and the NBA are very focused on expanding the league's appeal, so it is hard to understand why they haven't made a greater effort to figure out what will draw more women to the arena. Maybe they should try a frying pan or vacuum cleaner giveaway. (Sorry, I couldn't stay serious for that long.)

As for the blog world, some or many men may not respect the opinion of women concerning sports but most of these guys don't respect the opinion of most other guys either.

If you have a certain level of confidence and poise and knowledge I'd like to think you can get by these days. I haven't lived though. But if you want to do it, just do it as best you can identified as female or not. I try to treat female fan posters about the same. I've helped defend them sometimes, but I've done that sometimes for a guy poster too if he is getting unfair treatment.

This is out of control. The NBA is offensive to women in an arena? Why don't you take a look at society as a whole and reflect on the fact that this is 2010 and society has been desensitized to things like this. This isn't just in the NBA, everywhere you go every sporting event (male) this takes place. The majority of T.V. shows and movies contain this type of graphic material as well, to blame the NBA for this is just wrong. Who ever started this discussion in my opinion is mentally challenged and they should consider to moving to a country like iraq.

For the Hornets, the Director of Interactive Media, Director of Marketing Commmuications and VP of Marketing Services are women and the Director of Ticket Operations is also a woman.

It is probable the dancer was in the Ladies Night Out ad because they play a role in executing the promotion like it says they do for the Guys Night Out. Kudos to the Hornets for at least having both nights.

If you want a profile of a woman executive in the NBA maybe somebody can interview Matina Kolokotronis, newly named president of the Sacramento Kings.

But I usually don't defend the NBA. So I'll stop there and let them do anything further themselves.

I should submit a photo for the Ladies Night ad that is more representative of the demographic.

Quting Avery Johnson: "Nobody gives a mmmm.... CARE" - in this mater about dance brackets. Seriously, I have a ton of friends, who watch the NBA and none of them are even thinking about filling those things out. They should just get ridd of them because nobody gives a damn

as a long time female fan (over 30 yrs) you just ignore the stupid stuff and watch the game. I don't really understand the purpose of the dance teams, I think the mascots are mostly stupid. I would never wear a pink jersey, I want a "real" one that fits, but I do spend money on all access broadband and apps. My husband accompanies me to the games not the other way around. Businesses make changes when they notice you spend money.

Absolutely! Thanks for this post.
As for how to correct this wrong, I am not enthusiastic about fashion, or jerseys. I say let's start by infusing NBA broadcasting with women. Not as sideline reporters, mind you. I want to hear women talk about the sport and dissect it on NBA broadcasts. It's such a boys club and there is no valid reason for it. Plenty of female players and coaches out there who can talk about the game intelligently (and be total homers, as seems to be the requirement for team broadcasters).
I am not talking about one token woman, I am talking about hiring enough women to finally shift the perception that women do not care about, or understand, the game as well as men do.

Maybe I should have checked this further earlier but this was the 08-09 Hornets Ladies Night web ad

http://www.nba.com/hornets/tickets/200809_Ladies_N...

Is it a tube top or a strapless gown? I dunno so little of it is shown. The ad seems pitched to single women- offering wine, a "baby doll t-shit" and a gift certificate to a casino lounge. Not for everybody, but then special promos aren't for everybody.

09-10 ad- the dancer is clearly in uniform and the t-shirts are downplayed as "fitted".

http://www.basketballwithoutborders.com/hornets/ti...

Not a great ad (at least not if you are a straight woman) but there are a lot of poorly done ads.

And maybe they were marketing Ladies Night in part to draw the guys out too. That is exactly what a lot of bars do.

And somebody should check who initiated the Dance Bracket- the league or the dancers or if was a joint product. When I voted a couple times in the past for them, I only did so when dancers came on my blog and asked us to support them. They seemed to want the competition and thought there was a way for it is be legit and theirs.

... at the high school and college levels.

But down there, folks want the cheerleaders / dancers recognized as athletes, as part of the school's "team", warranting a stage when the audiences are big and the media is there.

If it is fine for one level it doesn't seem that wrong at another.

I guess the dance bracket was mainly just the lead tease but if it is important to encourage it to be dropped or moved then I guess it is ok to discuss it.

If the dance bracket needs to bite it, then idea that the NBA dancers are a part of the "Team" in a way close to the players (and different from the ushers, technicians or beer salespersons) should probably go too... and if you do it for the NBA why stop there? Let cheer/dance be a totally separate sport then with no connection to other sports.

Sarah, Well done! I'm a female NBA fan, and I know the feeling of canvasing the blogasphere and feeling like your the only women out there. I'm a frequent poster and an active member in a certain SBnation blog for the Houston Rockets. I have been a member on this site for months, yet have not mentioned that I am female to any of my fellow male bloggers.

Why?

Very simply some men do not respect the opinion of women concerning sports. I have witnessed as other female bloggers on other sites have admitted to being female, and they are immediately discredited as knowing nothing or have been shamelessly flirted with. Thus I have kept my "identity" a secret.

I know you were writing about how the NBA marketing treats there female fans, but this problem stretches into so many areas of the sport. And for me personally it affects me daily as an active blogger and online fan.

I suppose we can only hope that one day women will be respected and represented in the sporting community. And that the NBA executives will wake up and recognize that they do have an abundance of die-hard female fans.

Thanks for bring this to their attentions-it's well appreciated!

@ ticktock6

"But ask yourself this… if you were a silently lurking female fan, would you feel, after reading through some of the comments on this post, comfortable putting yourself out there? Would you feel safe being vocal?"

This goes for any site, male or female, young or old. If i went to a gaming site to say how awesome MLB 10 The Show was, and you were a "regular" there and you hated baseball games, you'd troll a "n00b" right off the site. Same goes with basketball or any other topic for that matter.

Dismissive tones, passive aggressive attacks, and others happen not only on NBA.com or Deadspin.com.. but they also happen in the very row behind you at that next Hornets game.. if you can be so strong as to write a post, calling the NBA to the carpet (basically) for their shortcomings in marketing, then you're obviously strong enough to let your voice be heard.

What did women wear at basketball games before the pink jerseys came out?

Who CAN wear a free giveaway at a basketball game other than a size large male?

and if you've been a fan only since 2007, how long do you think the dance bracket challenge has been up?? not necessarily on the main pic of the homepage, but as a link somewhere within the depths of the site itself.

As a another silent blog lurker female fan, all I can do is agree with your post. The one Chris Paul jersey that I have fits terribly, and if I go on Hornets.com one more time and see that woman telling me to renew/sign up for season tickets, I think that I will scream.

One thing that has bothered me for quite some time is the way that the national media treats female fans. According to Bill Simmons, if you like the WNBA you must be gay and secretly lusting after Tamika Catchings. I'm sorry but I just love the game of basketball and not the looks of its players.... Okay, I do think that CP3 and Larry Johnson, without the dress of course, are pretty hot.

Almost forgot, but I really liked how very few columnists made a big deal out of LBJ telling his mother to sit her ass down during the Celtics/Cavs series in 08. Way to witness the misogyny, LBJ.

If I ran a game for my tastes I'd get rid of the lame "family-friendly" halftime entertainment, change most of the music, let the cheerleaders dance 2-3 times as much, let the players wear longer clothes if they wanted, increase attention to stats and scores and cut back on the player personality stuff a good deal, etc.

A photo-op with a player? Or a chance to get on the court and shoot a hoop like they sometimes let kids do but not usually just any random guy or any other fan?

Not sure how you market "Ladies Night". What did they do beyond the cover photo? Any discounts or special opportunities?

What would you want... "free player hugs"? A special section? A free beer? Actual signed / hand-delivered player jerseys? A full-size or mini basketball? I am curious what would be the right things to offer? Ticket upgrades? A free program?

Besides the game itself, what is "for women"? Besides the "family-safe" parts of the halftime entertainment? Maybe the uniforms on players (Players not allowed to add t-shirts or longer shorts), the personal interviews, the candid shots, the player personality videoclips on TV and the web, etc.

I don't know. If the game is the main attraction then how much should the rest of that stuff matter?

I'd change stuff too if I wanted it to exactly perfect for me.

I know serious female basketball fans and serious female basketball players so it is worth raising awareness but you've got to stay visible and decide how much things have to go your way vs what men might prefer on some things. If you want different jersey color choice I see no reason they can't accommodate. Cheerleader / dancers aren't a big thing on their own, I am not really buying the idea that they are "too much". If that is too much, then you got to rebuild the whole society and if that is your concern / goal then it really isn't an NBA issue.

Sarah,

In-fucking-credible post. It irks the hell out of me when leagues use pink to market to women. If the jersey doesn't appeal to a chick, dipping it in pink won't all of a sudden make it appealing. It pisses me off that the NBA thinks we're that simple.

RE: the free t-shirts

I did fight with myself over including that... haha. Because I know there are lots of guys they don't fit either, being usually Size Ridiculous. But I do get disappointed when I can't walk into the store and pick up gear. Or the only jersey I could pick up doesn't look like the rest of the jerseys. (Youth Small/Medium is my best friend... but I do think they're losing money only selling replicas in that size-- at least from me they are.)

I'm not super angry about the dancers-- I'm indifferent. I know they're not for me, but as I wrote this post, the question I began to ask myself was, "What *is*, then?"

Here is a great example of something that's supposed to be geared toward me but turns me off: my particular NBA team has a Ladies Night promotion. The cover model on the ad is a member of the dance team, in an itty bitty tube top. Now I KNOW that ad is meant to be for me. And yet the picture is still saying it's not.

LOTM, you and I don't agree in any shape or form.

As for commenting on blogs, I think got to do what you want, hear what you want and ignore or battle the rest as you wish.

Maybe some of the female execs with the teams and league should respond to your questions and comments. Obviously their employment hasn't been enough so far to fully satisfy but...

I don't know how off the mark they are for their overall market mix.

The cheerleaders at games don't seem overdone to me. Not that much different than a high school or college game.

The "entertainment" at a WNBA game isn't my cup of tea but majority gets more sway.

Look, honestly, I agree with dickey simpkins. Everywhere you go, there's a "Women's Month" here and a feminism thing there. Even in literature, the girls always beat the guys at sports or something by using their smarts. I have nothing against women, I love them, but it IS a matriarchal society. Even though 40% (and probably even less) fans of the NBA are women, the author is right in saying these are "casual" fans.

I think the NBA says they have a higher percentage of female executives than any other major sports league and that is about one-third but it depends on what you count and I guess they count marketing, ticket sales and public relations.

I can understand a prefence not to see the dance bracket on the front page of the website.
But as you said yourself you appreciate attractive players. If am going to pay to go to the game I prefer to see cheerleaders as part of that experience and I don't mind having the option to click on their pics online either.