New surge of WNBA fans brings more toxic atmosphere, worrying longtime supporters

More WNBA fans has meant “more money to pay players, more nationally televised games, more sellout crowds energizing the atmosphere,” but it also has meant “more expensive tickets, more money being gambled on games and — most alarming to longtime fans — more divisive voices crashing into a community centered on inclusion,” according to Albert Samaha of the WASHINGTON POST. A growing number of men have “directed their attention to women’s basketball,” contributing to a “popularity boom that has driven up WNBA revenue, television ratings and cultural relevance.” But some have brought “old traditions with them.” The WNBA has faced a “surge in verbal and online abuse directed at players in the past year-plus, including racist and antigay statements,” leaving a “stench that emanates across the league.” Longtime WNBA fans said that the “aggressive online tribalism” has also “made its way into arenas.” Booing “has become more common.” Samaha noted midway through last season, arena concession stands “slightly adjusted” their policies to resemble NBA games, “removing the caps from water bottles to make it harder for fans to throw them.” That shift has left longtime supporters “wondering whether there’s a way to preserve the culture they have built or whether its erosion is an unavoidable cost of the sport’s growth.” They hope that the WNBA can “narrow the financial gap to men’s sports without losing the atmosphere that made it special to its most devoted fans” (WASHINGTON POST, 7/7).