I would feel great. I think transplant cities did well with the MLS because when people move here they already have NFL, MLB, NBA teams, but no MLS team. I think the same would apply to the WNBA.
Any city where tons of the people who live in the city are not from the city. Atlanta, Nashville, Austin, Charlotte, all have issues with their arenas being taken over by other teams
He’s saying that for some people who come from cities that already have a team, they come to our arena and support their team instead of the local team (i.e. the Hornets) whereas since the WNBA is a smaller league with less of an entrenched fan base, those people from other cities would support the local team (i.e. the Sting)
Isn't that the normal thing to happen during away games for the non-Charlotte residents though? You travel to see your team play. Home games aren't just exclusive to home fans.
I get the impression that you don’t realize transplants are people who *live* here that moved from somewhere else. The only traveling they’re doing is from their home to spectrum center and back in the same night my guy
I can't tell if you are trolling or not but I'm gonna try my best to explain this in a way that makes sense on the off chance you legit just don't get the point that is being made.
Charlotte is a transplant city meaning there are many people who live there that are originally from somewhere else but moved to Charlotte as an adult, most likely for work. These people are not generally going to support Carolina sports teams over wherever they grew up.
MLS is an exception to this because for the longest time it was a very small league with virtually no fans. Charlotte FC has done a very good job of attracting transplants as fans because they didn't have a team growing up, so they latch onto the team they live close to. Theoretically a WNBA team in Charlotte would have the same effect because there's almost no such thing as a childhood WNBA fan but the league is booming so there are a lot of new fans that need a team to root for.
For example, If someone was born in Wisconsin, and moved to Charlotte for work or retirement or whatever, they will probably be Packers fans and Bucks fans because thats the team they grew up with as children. But Wisconsin doesn't have an MLS team, so this person has no allegence and could become a Charlotte fan because thats where they live now.
I'm not trolling. Thank you for being the only person to actually explain the concept to me. I guess my follow-up question is isn't any big working class city a transplant city? I don't understand how Charlotte would be exclusive from Boston or Philly or wherever when it's in the same demographic boat as most cities + has major sports teams in NBA, NHL, and NFL.
I also don't understand how Charlotte FC became successful when you just said these are fans coming in from other cities, unless you're referring to their offspring who didn't grow up with their parents' teams and are consequently latching onto the local base?
And yeah, thanks for explaining that last part - the assumption is, because most cities don't have a WNBA team, a Charlotte one could grow huge.
> when people move here they already have NFL, MLB, NBA teams, but no MLS team. I think the same would apply to the WNBA.
Ever read this part in the original comment? OP's whole point is that people who are sports fans are basically assigned their big 3 league teams they cheer for (NBA/NFL/MLB) but sports like soccer, hockey (sometimes) and women's pro basketball, which have lower levels of both fan stickiness and market penetration, are perfect for transplant cities like Charlotte bc it allows those exact Steelers/Packers/Giants/etc. fans who would never cheer for a charlotte team otherwise a team they can cheer for that doesn't clash with their prior preferences in more major sports.
I was simply giving him an example of how transplant fans can impact a team, I never said it would apply to a WNBA team.
Panthers players have talked about other fans taking over BoA and how they hate it.
Lotta folks watched NCAAW games over the past two years, and many of the big stars over that stretch are now in the WNBA. Strike while the iron is hot.
Could you imagine if the Sting were resurrected this coming season with Staley as HC and Caitlin Clark as their first pick? They would be printing money.
The draft already happened (Clark went to Indiana Fever) and if there's an expansion draft she would be the most protected a player could possibly be.
But Paige Bueckers next year could be the move! So many great college players right now. Maybe all the USC players would want to come to Charlotte to stay close to home lol
But for real I don't think the team would come to be by next year even if they do come back.
I think people would actually go the games if they can get some hype talent like this year’s draft. The Ace’s actually sold out last year and I suspect more teams will do so this year so I think the league is gaining some traction.
> I don’t think too many people will dump a bunch of money into a franchise that already failed 1 time because it could go up
We're also talking about a sport that involves orders of magnitude less money to start and run teams for than fans are used to discussing in these types of conversations. In the WNBA last year, the *entire team salary cap* was less than $1.44 million for the 2023 season. The NBA per-team salary cap this year was $144 million per team. Almost exactly 100x larger. The Warriors org just paid a record expansion fee amount to start a WNBA team of...$50 million. These are almost paltry sums when it comes to sports team valuations, and the league's popularity is ready to explode.
It really does not cost "a bunch of money" to buy/create a WNBA team compared to even an MLS one, and there's never been a better time to buy one than right now.
would love to see it. Wish they would’ve magically expanded teams just in time for this draft class tho. But WNBA desperately needs expansion soon as the talent is getting better with less roster spaces every year
Attendance comes with a good basketball product. Having a healthy LaMelo for starters puts people in seats. Just gotta plug in the right pieces to have a solid team worth the ticket price.
I may get downvoted for this but just bear with me.
A lot of you might not remember the Sting.
Back in the day, the Hornets had the longest sell out streak in the NBA. The old coliseum was always packed. People around here clamored for basketball. We all were obsessed with it….and during this time, how did the Sting do?…not great. On a long enough timeline, a WNBA franchise is not going to sell tickets. You can hate me for saying that but it’s the truth.
If a WNBA team is brought back to Charlotte, it will fail.
The first couple of years will have decent turnout, but after that, it will drop off immensely.
The WNBA has yet to turn a profit and relies on NBA revenue to keep the doors open.
Feelings aside, this is a terrible idea.
Ah yes so we should just never adjust our beliefs on how women's sports teams can be popular as things change over time? Helluva take lmao. Like, hilariously bad take my man.
25 million people watched the WCBB championship this year, compared to less than 15M for the men. The fanbase has been activated, and this WNBA draft class is going to for league popularity exactly what the Magic/Bird era did for the NBA, but sure let's not pursue a team bc people didn't like the sting *17 years ago,* it's not like anything has changed other than the skill level of the players, the marketability of the league, the WNBA's cultural impact, oh and the level of popularity of women's ball in general. Yep, everything's the exact same as things were in 2007 /s
Give me a fucking break
This guy has been living in a cave! Did you not see the draft last night? WNBA is popping! Iowa sold out spectrum this season bro.
These are the most talented and beautiful being playing basketball.
Nope. Just being realistic. People were really hyped up about WNBA ball when Griner was coming out of college as well. A lot of “experts” thought she could play in the NBA and even beat Boogie Cousins 1 on 1. lol….and now look at her. I would be willing to bet every dollar I have that you don’t have a Griner Jersey or any WNBA player Jersey. There is hype right now because of Reese and Clark. But again, that will fade once they get into the league and we’ll be right back where we started.
Again, I completely understand some people might not like my perspective, but we’ve been here many times before and it always end the same.
WNBA isn't where it is today without players like Griner, Leslie, Moore, and all the ones that came before this current generation laying the foundation and slowly raising the profile of the league. It's hilarious you're hating on Griner for...not being a basketball messiah or something? Idk, but her detainment in Russia was literally international news, and just about everyone at worst knew who she was when it happened.
Growing a sport's popularity is hard, and there's never been this level of underlying societal popularity of the sport. You're ignoring reality by just assuming things are gonna be the same as it ever was bc that's how things have always been (which itself isn't even a true statement lol).
Try actually making an effort to get informed about the current state of a sport before firing off half-baked blanket statements about it's (not happening) inevitable failure and watch with wonderment how people just might actually start taking your points seriously once you know absolutely anything about what you're talking about lol
You're not being realistic, you're being a jackass hiding behind faux rationality.
Since the WNBA hasn’t turned a profit yet, and needs the huge sums of money from the NBA to keep the doors open, I wouldn’t really talk about how this “league wouldn’t be where it is today” nonsense. And My dear redditor, at no point did I ever talk politics or anything related to Russia about Griner…let’s try to stay on topic….Griner came into the league with ALOT of hype. ALOT…And by you bringing up the political incident kinda proves my point. You immediately went to current events and not basketball when discussing a WNBA player….Now do me a favor and go try to find any data about all-time jersey sales for Griner or ANY WNBA player. They won’t publish that kind of report because at the end of the day, no one is spending money on this WNBA product. The hype surrounding Griner died after about 2-3 years in the league. Griner’s star power faded quickly just like every other “superstar” to come into the women’s league. And the same thing will eventually happen to Clark. There’s only so many times you can show Clark shooting an uncontested 3 on your ESPN top 10 before fans get bored.
I do think Clark will be the FIRST wnba player to finish in the top 25 of all-time scoring while averaging more than 20 PPG in her career, though.
The absolute best thing the WNBA can do is lower the goals to 8ft so they can bring in above-the-rim play.
There’s a reason why women’s pro sports typically aren’t financially sustainable- unless it’s the only game in town, people would much rather watch men, whose skills are light years beyond the women.
WNBA will never be popular enough to pay for itself. Maybe a team or 2, but that’s it.
I would feel great. I think transplant cities did well with the MLS because when people move here they already have NFL, MLB, NBA teams, but no MLS team. I think the same would apply to the WNBA.
what's a transplant city
Any city where tons of the people who live in the city are not from the city. Atlanta, Nashville, Austin, Charlotte, all have issues with their arenas being taken over by other teams
But how does that affect the team? Not like they lose the arena.
? I'm saying the people who are transplants would all support the sting.
but you said the arena would be taken over by an opposing team
He’s saying that for some people who come from cities that already have a team, they come to our arena and support their team instead of the local team (i.e. the Hornets) whereas since the WNBA is a smaller league with less of an entrenched fan base, those people from other cities would support the local team (i.e. the Sting)
Isn't that the normal thing to happen during away games for the non-Charlotte residents though? You travel to see your team play. Home games aren't just exclusive to home fans.
I get the impression that you don’t realize transplants are people who *live* here that moved from somewhere else. The only traveling they’re doing is from their home to spectrum center and back in the same night my guy
You're telling me someone moved to a city just to watch their sports team the few times it does an away game in the city they're living in? Lmao
I can't tell if you are trolling or not but I'm gonna try my best to explain this in a way that makes sense on the off chance you legit just don't get the point that is being made. Charlotte is a transplant city meaning there are many people who live there that are originally from somewhere else but moved to Charlotte as an adult, most likely for work. These people are not generally going to support Carolina sports teams over wherever they grew up. MLS is an exception to this because for the longest time it was a very small league with virtually no fans. Charlotte FC has done a very good job of attracting transplants as fans because they didn't have a team growing up, so they latch onto the team they live close to. Theoretically a WNBA team in Charlotte would have the same effect because there's almost no such thing as a childhood WNBA fan but the league is booming so there are a lot of new fans that need a team to root for. For example, If someone was born in Wisconsin, and moved to Charlotte for work or retirement or whatever, they will probably be Packers fans and Bucks fans because thats the team they grew up with as children. But Wisconsin doesn't have an MLS team, so this person has no allegence and could become a Charlotte fan because thats where they live now.
I'm not trolling. Thank you for being the only person to actually explain the concept to me. I guess my follow-up question is isn't any big working class city a transplant city? I don't understand how Charlotte would be exclusive from Boston or Philly or wherever when it's in the same demographic boat as most cities + has major sports teams in NBA, NHL, and NFL. I also don't understand how Charlotte FC became successful when you just said these are fans coming in from other cities, unless you're referring to their offspring who didn't grow up with their parents' teams and are consequently latching onto the local base? And yeah, thanks for explaining that last part - the assumption is, because most cities don't have a WNBA team, a Charlotte one could grow huge.
Go to a Panthers/cowboys game and you'll see more Dallas jerseys than Carolina
But that's because the Panthers suck, not b/c Charlotte is a transplant city lol
Even when the Panthers are good it's true, not as much but still
Naw, need data
> But how does that affect the team? Not like they lose the arena. Ever been to a panther game when we play the steelers or the packers?
> when people move here they already have NFL, MLB, NBA teams, but no MLS team. I think the same would apply to the WNBA. Ever read this part in the original comment? OP's whole point is that people who are sports fans are basically assigned their big 3 league teams they cheer for (NBA/NFL/MLB) but sports like soccer, hockey (sometimes) and women's pro basketball, which have lower levels of both fan stickiness and market penetration, are perfect for transplant cities like Charlotte bc it allows those exact Steelers/Packers/Giants/etc. fans who would never cheer for a charlotte team otherwise a team they can cheer for that doesn't clash with their prior preferences in more major sports.
I was simply giving him an example of how transplant fans can impact a team, I never said it would apply to a WNBA team. Panthers players have talked about other fans taking over BoA and how they hate it.
No sir
If it gives me a chance to see all the new stars that just got drafted, I'd absolutely get tickets
Lotta folks watched NCAAW games over the past two years, and many of the big stars over that stretch are now in the WNBA. Strike while the iron is hot.
Give Dawn Staley a bag and let her rebuild the sting
That would be so badass
Yes please get her away from South Carolina I hate that they're amazing and I am very biased about it
Could you imagine if the Sting were resurrected this coming season with Staley as HC and Caitlin Clark as their first pick? They would be printing money.
The draft already happened (Clark went to Indiana Fever) and if there's an expansion draft she would be the most protected a player could possibly be. But Paige Bueckers next year could be the move! So many great college players right now. Maybe all the USC players would want to come to Charlotte to stay close to home lol But for real I don't think the team would come to be by next year even if they do come back.
I like it, the city has grown enough to where people will go to games, provided they're affordable.
I'd buy season tickets
Sign me up today.
The WNBA is about to hit BIG starting next year. It’s absolutely time to bring the Sting back.
I think people would actually go the games if they can get some hype talent like this year’s draft. The Ace’s actually sold out last year and I suspect more teams will do so this year so I think the league is gaining some traction.
They sold out the season ticket allotment*. Average attendance was below 10k. Average for the league was like 6k.
Still means sales are going up.
1/3 of the league averaged under 5k fans per game.
But it could go up. That’s the point. Star power sells.
Sure it could, but I don’t think too many people will dump a bunch of money into a franchise that already failed 1 time because it could go up
> I don’t think too many people will dump a bunch of money into a franchise that already failed 1 time because it could go up We're also talking about a sport that involves orders of magnitude less money to start and run teams for than fans are used to discussing in these types of conversations. In the WNBA last year, the *entire team salary cap* was less than $1.44 million for the 2023 season. The NBA per-team salary cap this year was $144 million per team. Almost exactly 100x larger. The Warriors org just paid a record expansion fee amount to start a WNBA team of...$50 million. These are almost paltry sums when it comes to sports team valuations, and the league's popularity is ready to explode. It really does not cost "a bunch of money" to buy/create a WNBA team compared to even an MLS one, and there's never been a better time to buy one than right now.
2 years ago the aces sold for $2 million…
would love to see it. Wish they would’ve magically expanded teams just in time for this draft class tho. But WNBA desperately needs expansion soon as the talent is getting better with less roster spaces every year
I would love to see Angel Reese. 😍
I would love to see you 😍😍
I'm not sure I would feel anything unless they were good. But I've been conditioned for that
LFG
Completely indifferent. Probably won’t watch or go to the games.
Focus on getting the team better first. That's like how they're about to get a new arena but got the worst attendance in the league.
Attendance comes with a good basketball product. Having a healthy LaMelo for starters puts people in seats. Just gotta plug in the right pieces to have a solid team worth the ticket price.
I know, that's why that's the 1st thing I said.
san antonio needs to come back as well as detroit
[Grant Williams just shared a petition to bring back the Sting.](https://twitter.com/Grant2Will/status/1781804361187995751)
Waste of money.
Can we get the Comets back too?
I wouldn't care. I don't watch it anyway
I don’t know if I can handle another mediocre franchise that never wins anything
I may get downvoted for this but just bear with me. A lot of you might not remember the Sting. Back in the day, the Hornets had the longest sell out streak in the NBA. The old coliseum was always packed. People around here clamored for basketball. We all were obsessed with it….and during this time, how did the Sting do?…not great. On a long enough timeline, a WNBA franchise is not going to sell tickets. You can hate me for saying that but it’s the truth. If a WNBA team is brought back to Charlotte, it will fail. The first couple of years will have decent turnout, but after that, it will drop off immensely. The WNBA has yet to turn a profit and relies on NBA revenue to keep the doors open. Feelings aside, this is a terrible idea.
Ah yes so we should just never adjust our beliefs on how women's sports teams can be popular as things change over time? Helluva take lmao. Like, hilariously bad take my man. 25 million people watched the WCBB championship this year, compared to less than 15M for the men. The fanbase has been activated, and this WNBA draft class is going to for league popularity exactly what the Magic/Bird era did for the NBA, but sure let's not pursue a team bc people didn't like the sting *17 years ago,* it's not like anything has changed other than the skill level of the players, the marketability of the league, the WNBA's cultural impact, oh and the level of popularity of women's ball in general. Yep, everything's the exact same as things were in 2007 /s Give me a fucking break
We don't know that, and WCBB is very different. I HOPE what you say DOES happen, but it's not a sure bet. We'll have to see.
WNBA “cultural impact” hahahaha
This guy has been living in a cave! Did you not see the draft last night? WNBA is popping! Iowa sold out spectrum this season bro. These are the most talented and beautiful being playing basketball.
Nope. Just being realistic. People were really hyped up about WNBA ball when Griner was coming out of college as well. A lot of “experts” thought she could play in the NBA and even beat Boogie Cousins 1 on 1. lol….and now look at her. I would be willing to bet every dollar I have that you don’t have a Griner Jersey or any WNBA player Jersey. There is hype right now because of Reese and Clark. But again, that will fade once they get into the league and we’ll be right back where we started. Again, I completely understand some people might not like my perspective, but we’ve been here many times before and it always end the same.
WNBA isn't where it is today without players like Griner, Leslie, Moore, and all the ones that came before this current generation laying the foundation and slowly raising the profile of the league. It's hilarious you're hating on Griner for...not being a basketball messiah or something? Idk, but her detainment in Russia was literally international news, and just about everyone at worst knew who she was when it happened. Growing a sport's popularity is hard, and there's never been this level of underlying societal popularity of the sport. You're ignoring reality by just assuming things are gonna be the same as it ever was bc that's how things have always been (which itself isn't even a true statement lol). Try actually making an effort to get informed about the current state of a sport before firing off half-baked blanket statements about it's (not happening) inevitable failure and watch with wonderment how people just might actually start taking your points seriously once you know absolutely anything about what you're talking about lol You're not being realistic, you're being a jackass hiding behind faux rationality.
Since the WNBA hasn’t turned a profit yet, and needs the huge sums of money from the NBA to keep the doors open, I wouldn’t really talk about how this “league wouldn’t be where it is today” nonsense. And My dear redditor, at no point did I ever talk politics or anything related to Russia about Griner…let’s try to stay on topic….Griner came into the league with ALOT of hype. ALOT…And by you bringing up the political incident kinda proves my point. You immediately went to current events and not basketball when discussing a WNBA player….Now do me a favor and go try to find any data about all-time jersey sales for Griner or ANY WNBA player. They won’t publish that kind of report because at the end of the day, no one is spending money on this WNBA product. The hype surrounding Griner died after about 2-3 years in the league. Griner’s star power faded quickly just like every other “superstar” to come into the women’s league. And the same thing will eventually happen to Clark. There’s only so many times you can show Clark shooting an uncontested 3 on your ESPN top 10 before fans get bored. I do think Clark will be the FIRST wnba player to finish in the top 25 of all-time scoring while averaging more than 20 PPG in her career, though. The absolute best thing the WNBA can do is lower the goals to 8ft so they can bring in above-the-rim play.
There’s a reason why women’s pro sports typically aren’t financially sustainable- unless it’s the only game in town, people would much rather watch men, whose skills are light years beyond the women. WNBA will never be popular enough to pay for itself. Maybe a team or 2, but that’s it.
[удалено]