A Tale of Two Leagues
When people discuss sports, they often default to leagues where men are playing. The ingrained viewpoint is that sports are inherently male. This simply is not the case, but unfortunately the comparison is made between leagues that are 26 years old like the WNBA and leagues that are 76 years old like the NBA. Instead of comparing the leagues at the same point in time ie 26 years in, they are compared in skewed ways. This leads to inaccurate rhetoric about viewership and revenue dollars that negatively impacts female athletes.
Leagues also seem to try to base their structure and competitions in the same way as leagues where men are playing. For instance, when a new professional league pops up in say American Football, like the XFL or AFL, the NFL looks to cannibalize it. The prevailing viewpoint is that there can only be one truly professional, top-tier league in North America in each sport or there will be some perceived problem. It seems to be the reason why the NHL has lower-tiered leagues like the AHL & ECHL, but no comparable and equally footed league that directly competes with them. The same can be said of the MLS and the lower-tiered USL along with the NBA & the G-League. It seems every time a league pops up to compete with one of these top-tier leagues, the prevailing league tries to either crush it or acquire it.
Do we really need to try to follow what these leagues are doing? Do they actually set the end-all-be-all goal for other sports leagues?
I do not believe they do and comparing or aspiring to be like them might lead us into the same problems they are currently dealing with publicly. A few examples include, but are not limited to:
The Chicago Blackhawks sexual abuse scandal
Donald Sterling racism scandal
NFL & The Washington Commanders, formally The Washington Football team, and the toxic workplace & sexual harassment scandal
The NFL’s current lawsuit surrounding inequitable hiring practices that disproportionately effect and target Black, Women, and People of Color
MLB’s current lockout of the MLB players
However, things seem to be changing in sports where women are playing. These leagues seem to be leading the way and literally changing the game. Some recent examples of positive changes:
$25 million investment into the Premier Hockey Federation
NWSL ratifies the 1st ever CBA in North American women’s soccer
I asked myself, why can’t there be two leagues for professional players? Why are we trying to force ourselves into a box created by someone else?
That seems to be just what the founders of a new professional basketball league in North America were thinking as well. The WNBA has reigned supreme in professional basketball in North America, but a new league is on the rise. Athletes Unlimited Hoops has stepped on the scene with players from the WNBA also competing in this league. This brings to light the struggle some WNBA players have once season ends. Some of them have to essentially go overseas right away in order to continue to make a living wage. However, Athletes Unlimited gives them a new avenue to stay domestically, but get paid for their unique talents.
The WNBA’s $75 million investment announcement into the league came during Week 2 of the Athletes Unlimited season in Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to the Athletes Unlimited website, “We believe the traditional model of pro sports is not built to bring out the best in athletes, or to deliver the most to its fans. So we developed an all-new model for pro athletes and sports – and for you. We are using this innovative player-centric model to create leagues across sports. Since we launched Athletes Unlimited on March 3, 2020, we’ve seen success in our Softball, Volleyball, Basketball and Lacrosse leagues, and we have more exciting ventures on the horizon.”
This new model is bringing new types of coverage from reporters and journalists who have been in the trenches bringing new and exciting content to fans. The content that is being produced during this short, five-week season is player-focused and elite.
The teams change weekly and there is so much action in each of these matchups. This league provides professional players more opportunities to play in the United States, but also gives WNBA athletes the opportunity to stay in the U.S. year-round.
One of the first to announce she was joining the league was Sydney Colson. She is a former Texas A&M University point guard and spent 7 years in the WNBA.
Not only are they bringing in more generally well-known players into the league like Natasha Cloud, Lexie Brown, and Mercedes Russell, they are also bringing in highly-skilled players who haven’t played in the WNBA. These include": “Becca Wann-Taylor (Chesterfield, Va.) – a two-sport student-athlete from the University of Richmond and All-American soccer player – is one of four players who earned a spot in Athletes Unlimited via the Open Tryouts last month in Atlanta, along with Taja Cole (Richmond, Va.), Briahanna Jackson (Tampa, Fla.) and Takoia Larry (South Bend, Ind.).” Taja Cole, some say due to her stellar performance in this new league, signed a contract with the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZgAazoLMKf/
There are also some elite-level journalists and reporters covering the games including Forbes 30 under 30 honoree and Founder of Girls Talk Sports TV, Khristina Williams. They have also partnered with some big media partners to bring you the games wherever you live. They include CBS Sports Network, FOX Sports, Bally Sports Regional Sports Network and a network of digital platforms.
Perhaps this is the new wave for professional female athletes. Instead of being bound to one league and not being contractually allowed to play in another league, you can play in other professional leagues in your offseason without having to go overseas. Of course, we all want players to be able to choose if they want to play or not and not be forced to play because they need the money. A living wage that comfortably supports their lifestyle is the goal, but if these players want to play in another league during their offseason, then why can’t they?
Athletes Unlimited says they can and we got you.