Spotlight Shows Flaws Wnba Has Nice Packaging, But Will It Sell?

Large crowds, tons of turnovers and poor shooting added up to an uneven opening week in the new WNBA.

There was criticism of the sloppy play and speculation about attendance figures that, in some cases, were boosted by ticket giveaways.

That bothers Jennifer Azzi, who plays in the year-old rival American Basketball League. She says it’s vital for the women to put on a good show, but concedes her friends in the WNBA face a tough situation.

“Marketing is one thing, but you’ve got to have quality product on the floor,” said Azzi, a guard for the San Jose Lasers.

New York Liberty standout Rebecca Lobo suggested the first week miscues could be a case of players overcompensating to prove that the WNBA is worth watching.

“I think part of it is because the teams have only been together for three weeks,” she said. “And I think people are really trying hard in these games, because we want the fans to come back.”

The fans came out in droves opening week, with the largest crowd - 16,285 - watching the Houston Comets’ home opener against the Phoenix Mercury. That topped the 16,102 in Phoenix on June 22.

Houston’s total included 790 complimentary tickets, compared with 500-600 comps for a Rockets’ NBA game, said Terri Hartley, director of ticket services.

“You come in expecting to play before 7,500, then it goes to 10,000, then to 12,000 and all of a sudden it’s a sellout,” Comets coach Van Chancellor said. “That’s quite an adjustment to make. You get caught up in that. You want to do good.”

But good wasn’t the word to describe the action in the inaugural game between the Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks on June 21 at the Forum.

The teams combined for 44 turnovers and the Sparks shot 31 percent (21 of 68) in front of a national TV audience. The NBC broadcast topped all Saturday afternoon sports shows in the ratings.

The attempt by Lisa Leslie of the Sparks to make the WNBA’s first dunk ended, in her words, when she “kind of ran into the front of the rim.”

Lobo insists dunking isn’t something the players dwell on.

“It would be great or exciting to see a woman dunk in a game, but it’s not like we need it,” she said. “Our game is basically below the rim and it’s exciting there.”

The loose play continued June 23 in the Sacramento Monarchs’ home opener against the Liberty. The Monarchs had 25 turnovers to New York’s 24.

“The turnovers are the result of the intensity of the play on the court,” Lobo said. “Point guards are being pressured to bring the ball from end to end.”

Through the league’s first eight games, the eight teams averaged 40 percent shooting, 21 turnovers and 68 points. By comparison, the NBA averaged 45.5 percent shooting, 15.7 turnovers and 96.9 points last season.

“We’re confident the players will settle down,” WNBA president Val Ackerman said, pointing out the season began only 23 days after the teams’ first practices.

“I think they are overwhelmed,” she said. “Many of them are not used to playing in front of crowds this large and didn’t expect the media attention.”

Monarchs guard Ruthie Bolton-Holifield, a teammate of Lobo’s on the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team last summer, said the players may be trying too hard.

“I think we’re trying to impress everyone with the new league, maybe we overwork at times. We just need to slow down and make the shots,” she said. “It will settle down soon.”

Liberty guard Sophia Witherspoon said there was definitely room for improvement.

“Right now we know there are some things we have to get better on as far as taking care of the ball and being aggressive the whole 40 minutes, not just five minutes here and there,” she said.

The sloppy play didn’t keep fans away, however. Total attendance for the WNBA’s first eight games was 96,728, including the free tickets - an average of 12,091.

By comparison, the ABL’s top crowd was 11,873 at New England on Jan. 25. The league averaged 3,536 fans a game during its 44-game regular season, which ran from October 1996 to February.

“We want to see them do well because that affects how people look at us,” Azzi said.

Gary Cavalli, ABL co-founder and CEO, said the WNBA’s caliber of play must even out to keep the crowds coming back.

“Our play was better than what I’ve seen so far in the WNBA,” he said.

“There’s a lot of hype and excitement around opening weekend, but you have to see if you can sustain that,” he said. “The fans will hang in there for a while, but at some point it’s going to have to improve from what it was last week.”

Many of the league’s arenas - also home to NBA teams - are confining seating sections to the lower levels, and opening upper-level sections based on ticket demand.

In Phoenix, America West Arena’s capacity is 9,623 for WNBA games. But upper-level seating is already being sold for the Mercury’s second home game July 7, said Seth Sulka, vice president of team operations.

He said there were fewer than 600 comp tickets given out for the Mercury’s opener that drew 16,102. That’s about the number of comps for other arena events, he said.

In Los Angeles, the Liberty-Sparks opener had an announced attendance of 14,284. Comp tickets totaled 2,000, Sparks spokesman Raymond Ridder said.

The arena that seats 17,505 for Los Angeles Lakers games had curtains and huge graphics of basketballs in the upper corners to cover seating sections.

Sulka said that while any new sports league would do well at the beginning, he was still surprised by the big demand for tickets.

“The test is going to be games two, three, four, five,” he said. “The test is going to be if the show people saw the first night is going to bring them back. The signs we’re seeing in Phoenix is that they are.”