By Charles Hallman
Staff Writer
WNBA President Laurel Richie says her “rookie season” as league president has been a great one.
Speaking to reporters Sunday prior to the first game of the 2011 WNBA Finals in Minneapolis, Richie cited increases in attendance and television ratings and “great engagement in the online digital space” such as WNBA.com, WNBA Live Access and the league’s social media sites.
“We’re really proud to be able to offer this whole suite of engagement vehicles to our fans…to provide them with many avenues to connect with our league, our teams, with our players, and to connect with each other,” the league’s top executive pointed out.
ESPN, the WNBA’s national media partner, reported that league telecasts on ESPN2 this season had the highest level in viewership since 2005, Richie announced, up five percent from last season.
“I am very proud to have ESPN as a partner,” responded Richie to a question posed by the MSR on assessing the sports network’s coverage of the league. For example, ESPN2 quickly switched to another program rather than show the post-season celebration after Atlanta defeated Indiana to advance to the Finals.
In a follow-up interview with the MSR on Monday, Richie further discussed media coverage of her league, including ESPN.
“I think one of my roles as president of this league is to go out and tell the story of our league, our players, our rivalries, the competition, and work with all media to validate and legitimize our sport,” she said. “This is an ongoing process — to spend as much time as I can with our partners to get the kind of coverage on a consistent basis that I would like to see that the other sports leagues get.
“I’m very optimistic that in conversations with ESPN, and in partnership with ESPN, we can see that increase,” Richie said.
Richie told reporters on Sunday that her biggest task in the upcoming off-season is two-fold: “One is taking the time to really think through what kinds of programs and initiatives we can create to increase in-arena attendance and our viewership,” she explained.
“A second thing that I really want to focus in on is finding opportunities for sports fans and the general public to get to know the women of the WNBA — primarily the players, but also many of our owners as well. I just think that’s a really important piece to growing the league.”
The president also answered questions on several other key issues:
On roster size, which was trimmed two years ago from 13 to 11 per team: “We will look at it again,”
pledged Richie. “As I have traveled around visiting with teams, fans, coaches and players, that has come up as a question. I think that’s one of those questions that we will ask ourselves every couple of years, or maybe even every year, and just revisit it.”
On the 2012 season, which will be impacted by the Summer Olympics games: Richie said the event “gives our athletes and the women of the WNBA an international global stage in which to show their ability. We will do everything we can to accommodate the Olympics and make it easy for us to manage our WNBA season, but also give our athletes a chance to compete in the Olympics. My guess is our [regular] season will start a little bit earlier and will end a little bit later with a break in the middle for the Olympics.”
On being asked again about the current NBA lockout after Richie was asked to speak on it during her league’s all-star game in July: “As I’ve said before, I am solely focused on the WNBA. I wish [the NBA] all the very best in getting to an agreement that works for all.”
Finally, Richie strongly suggested that to “the stray fan” thinking about watching a WNBA game and to get more people to tune in on a telecast, “I would encourage people to come to a game in the arena, because I think when you get the full experience of not just the game but all that comes with it, it’s a wonderful experience. So to me it’s about watch and come join us, and I really believe that is the conversion metric for us.”
Finally…
Basketball Operations and Player Relations Chief Renee Brown, who’s second in command in the WNBA and has been with the league since its inception, told the MSR on Monday how impressed she was “seeing 15,000 folk here [on Sunday] enjoying themselves…enjoying the beauty of this game and how well our players are playing. I was so happy to see them show up and see how good [the two teams] are.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.
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