Breanna Stewart Is Bridging the Gap in Women's Basketball

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Flaw In The Article

While it's true the National League launched in 1876, baseball didn't take 27 years
In only 25 years, the league was so dominant that it triggered another league.
It was a huge attraction by the mid-1880s.
The NFL was catching up to college football (which had a 50 year headstart) in the 1930s, but was stunted a bit by WW2.
In addition, the modern era of the NBA starts with the integration & success of the Boston Celtics. 25 years later the game was primetime TV fair & was a primary driver of the merchandise explosion.
The bulk of the article is fine but the "runway" argument is flawed. The WNBA had the substantial advantage of having a blueprint.
There may be other reasons why WNBA management failed to properly promote their product. But, "runway" seems very weak.
And, if want a good example of mismanaging a sport, we need only to look at professional bowling.
The guy who drilled my first bowling ball is now in the bowling hall of fame. When he won the US Open in the early 70s, he won $125,000. When he bowled a 300 game on TV, he won 10 grand. And, the sport was covered on ABC.
Now, a bowler wins a major tournament and gets 90-100 thousand. A 300 game? Ten thousand. FIFTY plus years later.
And, the sport is covered on an also-ran sport network. The people who ran the sport drove it into a ditch.
I'll blame management much more than how much time the league has been around.