Brad Cesmat
The World Cup, Rory v Bryson, Ohtani on the mound or at the plate, Lebron to Philly, it’s been a heck of a month in sports. So, why am I leading off Three Dots about the WNBA and how this summer they’ve lost their way?
I was the original play-by-play voice of the Phoenix Mercury. Jerry Colangelo called one night and offered me a job that I didn’t even know was open. I bounced around on buses and flew three to aisle on Southwest. I’d have dinner with Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman one night in Cleveland, and the next night I’d watch “Lady Magic’ muster up the energy to play deep into games, late in her career. Nancy was incredible. Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller was the coach. She was great to deal with and made my job pretty seamless. The W wasn’t very good at the time. There were great individual players like Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoops, Tina Thompson, Cynthia Cooper, Michelle Timms, etc, but not enough depth to make for a compelling product. What the League didn’t have back then was “media” who were nothing more than cheerleaders and wanna-be social media stars. Back then, a player being put on the spot about their politics or views on issues other than the game wasn’t a part of the daily news cycle. Charles Barkley made news daily in the ’90s by sharing his beliefs, as crazy as some of them might’ve been; he churned the NBA interest. A hot mic in the WNBA wasn’t happening in the early years. Today, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, and Sophie Cunningham get more attention on networks other than the ones carrying their games. Politics, fashion, and click counts matter more than if Reese scores 25 and grabs 10 boards or Clark hits logo three after logo three.
It’s All-Star Weekend in the WNBA, and our industry is cranking out content that has nothing to do with the on-the-court product. The Commissioner Cathy Engelbert says, “all is well” at a time when true leadership and honesty about the product being delivered are lacking. If Indiana isn’t playing a game, I’m still not committed to watching, and I’m not alone. In my circles, the W still isn’t appointment viewing. I’m happy to see the League grow. But the “Everything is awesome and amazing” crowd hurts the growth more than helps. The W has captured the summer news cycle with Sophie pointing a finger, Alyssa Thomas pushing down on Caitlin. If it were just Phoenix 99-New York 94,, no one watches on social media, but if it’s VIDEO- Sophie Cunningham Viral Finger, well, every media company in the country will want to jump on that wagon and hit their daily number. A meme going viral is more important for business than the product on the court. It’s an American Sports drug. Style over substance all day long. The growing pains that the W is going through aren’t a surprise to me. From day one, the gender, race, and representation topics have taken up a big part of the narrative, but at some point, for this League to grow to greater heights, the product presented on the court has to be center stage. I don’t know if our industry is strong enough to make the wins and losses the first topic over “what viral movement can we get tonight”…
BTW, watching the WNBA All-Star Game right now. Unwatchable from an effort standpoint in the third quarter. Much like the NFL and NBA All-Star games, it’s not a “classic”…
I just looked up from the keyboard and am not sure where the last few minutes went, but this is why it’s called Three Dot Thoughts….
Hydration breaks were sponsored, but the naming rights holders of stadiums were not named during the World Cup. I was fine with both…
Phoenix passed on a 2026 World Cup bid because of the lopsided finances. Don’t blame them, but that doesn’t mean that the local powers that be shouldn’t push hard for a Women’s World Cup venue in 2031…
I’m sure that the Suns season ticket sales reps will be pounding the phones and email hard Monday morning to sell you the Philadelphia 76ers game. My hope is the Sixers aren’t coming to Phoenix to finish a back-to-back. I would hope that in the load management era, LeBron wouldn’t skip Phoenix, but you never know…
I’m guessing 50 Philly games will be on ABC/ESPN and NBC/Peacock when the schedule comes out next month…
Chris Garagiola has done a nice job filling in on D-Backs TV. Storytelling like his grandfather is an easy listen…
Ketel Marte hitting cleanup on Saturday? Corbin Carroll leading off?…
Mitch Bratt today and Kohl Drake on Sunday. I understand that the starting pitching has been decimated by injuries, but couldn’t they set up a series where the two kids weren’t pitching back-to-back…
Gabby Moreno with a team-leading OPS of .841(.311 batting average), the biggest surprise of the season…
Not time to close the book on the 2026 MLB postseason having a stop in Phoenix…
Send your story suggestions, three-dot thoughts, or comments to Brad@sports360az.com
