The WNBA had very little athletic competition during the past three months. For this reason and the arrival of Caitlin Clark, attendance and television viewership increased dramatically this year. This is the good news for the league. Unfortunately, there are still many problems.
In spite of the dollars generated by the increased attendance, the WNBA will lose many millions of dollars this season. It sems that many of the owners of the twenty-four teams are more interested in getting a tax write-off than they are in making the league more popular. Talent is limited and relatively few fans are likely to be able to name more than three players on their favorite teams, and the talent will be further diluted by adding more teams to the league. Few of the teams' general managers made an effort to improve their teams during the recent trade period. in spite of several talented players who were reportedly seeking trades from teams who were willing to let them go at bargain basement prices.
On the court there have been a number of rough and excessive fouls by players better suited for employment by WWE wrestling. Some of this is because the officiating is inconsistent and/or bad and is not improving. Coaching in terms of both offensive and defensive schemes and in substitution patterns is often baffling.
Lastly, the talking heads on television and computer sites have done little to enhance the popularity of the WNBA, other than to make it known that the WNBA exists, with their emotional and deceptive comments about both teams and individual players. To those who might consider this post in those terms, I apologize, but I would really like to see the WNBA become a success because of the improved play.
