Altering the Playing Season in Women’s College Basketball

[ifyousayso]

The NCAA Womens Basketball Committee is looking toward ways to increase spectator interest and attendance at Womens Basketball Games.

In a recent meeting by the Committee several topics were discussed;
Funding a grass roots marketing campaign
Changing the season of Womens Basketball
Implications of having two separate three point lines on the court

So, I wonder if they are thinking along the lines of the WNBA and change the season to the spring or even summer?

Here is the Link:
CLICK HERE (http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN4g3NPUESYGYxqb6kW hCjhgihqYeCDFfj_zcVH1v_QD9gtzQ0IhyR0UAE3AuRw!!/delta/base64xml/L3dJdyEvUUd3QndNQSEvNElVRS82XzBfMTVL?WCM_GLOBAL_CO NTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/NCAA/NCAA+News/NCAA+News+Online/2007/Association-Updates/Women's+Basketball+Issues+Committee+considers+gran t+program+-+07-12-07+update)

[acusefan4ever]

they obviously can't have it during the summer because its not during the normal academic year. A lot of schools can't afford to have the kids around all summer. It doesn't work for the wnba being during the summer there are more empty seats then full not to mention wcbb would then be up against the wnba.

The whole different three point lines thing is hilarious too. They are worried how its going to look but how does it look when the don't have a 10 second rule. They're worried about playing by different rules that will make the girl's game look like its less then the mens but they already do that.

[BrooklynSaints]

The NCAA Womens Basketball Committee is looking toward ways to increase spectator interest and attendance at Womens Basketball Games.

In a recent meeting by the Committee several topics were discussed;
Funding a grass roots marketing campaign
Changing the season of Womens Basketball
Implications of having two separate three point lines on the court

So, I wonder if they are thinking along the lines of the WNBA and change the season to the spring or even summer?

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Well the season runs now from November through March. I just can't see any other time working. May starts finals at most schools. June, July & August school is out for summer vacation. If I were an athlete I would hate to play in the summer.

I think if you want better attendance, schools should be forced to play a stronger schedule.

Also the closer the three point line the more exciting games will be. Attendance will decrease as the three point line moves further away.

[acusefan4ever]

games won't be more exciting if the line is closer it just means that more people who shouldn't be shooting from there will be.

[ClayKallam]

The three-point decision by the men was arrogant and goofy. Everyone should use the FIBA line, but the men can't do anything someone else has already done. That's why they went with the 35-second clock instead of 30 -- the women had done it first.

Just a terrible decision by the NCAA ...

[ifyousayso]

Most of the players are in summer school anyway as it is allowable for the schools to pay summer school, but, most of the student body is not, therefore the main dilema. Seems it could at best be moved forward a couple months so that it ended prior to the spring term ending. Possibly January start and May finish?Just doesnt feel right though.

[YourCrimsonNightmare]

The NCAA discussion has been about possibly delaying the start of the women's season (or ending it earlier) to make space for more audience during tournament time. Quite clearly, while the neutral court thing has made for a much more equitable tournament, their desire to give sites to the highest bidders rather than the ones with the most fan interest has decimated NCAA attendance, especially in the first and second rounds.

As has been discussed here, there's a significantly higher percentage of fans of a particular team rather than fans of women's basketball itself than in the men's game. I think the Big 12 probably has as high a percentage of "fans of the game" as anybody, but there's still a big dropoff in attendance when their schools aren't playing.

[acusefan4ever]

Most of the players are in summer school anyway as it is allowable for the schools to pay summer school, but, most of the student body is not, therefore the main dilema. Seems it could at best be moved forward a couple months so that it ended prior to the spring term ending. Possibly January start and May finish?Just doesnt feel right though.

At the big schools most of them are there but not at the smaller schools. If they're worried about butts in the seats they are just going to be forced to go back to letting teams like UT/UConn having home court until the final four. It would be a mistake to turn wcbb into the wnba and have it played out of season. The real reason the wnba plays during the summer is the european leagues play during the fall and pay a lot more so if they had to compete they'd be a third rate league.

[ClayKallam]

Another big reason for the WNBA in the summer is TV: There's not much product except baseball for sports channels to broadcast, and basketball is compact time-wise and relatively cheap to produce.

[acusefan4ever]

the tv contract wouldn't be an issue if they played in the winter because there wouldn't be a league. Think about it, players like Lauren Jackson go back and forth every year deciding if they're going to play in the WNBA if they had to pick one league they'd go to the one that pays a lot more as would 98% of the players.

I do have a question for everyone. Condoleezza Rice was given an award by the WNBA, last I checked she was part of an administration that wants to revoke Title IX. I see she talked about how important Title IX is but isn't that in contradiction to the people she supports politically?