So what has the WNBA as a league been. I looked back over the years looking at video starting in the inaugural 1997 and I see a fair amount of fan support for the final championship games (crowds for other games are unknown as video was hard to find the further I go back in history), a league that has been somewhat inconsistent in how games are officiated,  players with heart, and a game of contact that is dictated by the size or skill level of the opposing players. It should be noted in my search that I was not able to find full game video for the following four years 2013, 2012, 2010, and 2005.

Looking a the history of the WNBA in the Wikipedia listing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_National_Basketball_Association, The league has not had the fragmented history of the NBA.  It has had a more controlled formation as one league since 1997 compared to the mixture of failed leagues that eventually became https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_National_Basketball_Association.

Whereas the NBA has always been a league of privately owned teams and clubs. The WNBA from its inception has been owned and subsidized by the NBA with an eventual plan to sell teams to private ownership.  With this arrangement comes a constricted amount of control by the WNBA teams. Money arrangements, media arrangements, player contracts, collective bargaining agreements.  

League officiating is a combination of referee skills and decisions by the league to define various calls especially fouls.  Referee skills is a personnel decision. If officials are not performing adequately and other officials are waiting in the wings, the official can be switched.

Defining fouls is a function of the league officials. As I go over videos from years past I notice that some years there looks to be a decision to let players hit each other two or three times before a foul is called.  It has been said that in the last minute of an NHL hockey game that the referee is suppose to swallow their whistle and let the players decide the game. Not logical.  A foul or penalty is a foul or penalty the whole duration of the game.  It also seems that the WNBA defines contact is not contact unless it happens after three hits.  

As I analyze the crowds I get the impression that there is a degree of local interest but do see a fair amount of empty seats and rarely if there was an upper deck there is no camera pans.  The question I ask is what type of fan outreach has been done?  Where was the link from the stars in college going to the WNBA.  How watched was the women’s college game?  There seems to be some history, but has it grabbed the average person.

Looking back at the video, the WNBA has had a large number of black players. There have also be a number of dominant white women’s players.  The league should not be considered a league of one race or the other. My conclusion is the WNBA has had a following by a certain fan base. Having not lived in a direct team media market from 1997 forward, I do not know how the local news and sports reports have covered the teams.  

I do know that all of a sudden this overly talented woman who plays basketball has taken a team in in Indiana and not only put it on the news sports reports in Iowa, the interest has put full regular season games on television in Iowa. I can’t think of any Indian sports teams that have garner this interest.

The next segment we will answer this question and answer the question, did Caitlin Clark take a knee.