Embarrassing scenario highlights shocking reality for women’s sports

In less than 24 hours the sports world could see a new WNBA champion crowned, yet incompetence from the league’s organisers has overshadowed the finale.

The Golden State Valkyries deserve to win the competition in a sold-out arena, but if they do so on Friday (AEDT), their celebrations could be cut short on the main court and their fans will be forced to take time off work or school to attend or watch the clincher.

The WNBA was reportedly made aware that could be the case almost two months ago – thanks to a message issued by the owners of the Atlanta Dream.

The Dream face a 2-3 WNBA finals deficit after losing game five on Tuesday. That result was overshadowed by the two-month-long venue debate for game six, which had been scheduled on the same court, one-hour apart as the Atlanta Hawks.

The finals match has been moved to the Hawks’ home venue for capacity reasons, but instead of resolving the scheduling conflict when it was first flagged, the WNBA waited until the week of the match to announce where it would be held.

A number of solutions had been suggested to combat the issue, but the Dream was left frustrated and disappointed that their complaint about the venue debacle two months ago did not “receive the attention, nor the urgency that (it) deserved”.

“Perhaps it was assumed that the Dream would not make it this far,” the Atlanta Dream ownership team wrote in a lengthy statement on Wednesday.

Read more

‘TOTAL DISGRACE’: Trump reignites LeBron feud after viral anthem video

“Whatever the reason, the reality is that we are here. We earned our place and our city deserves the opportunity to show up for its team.”

The owners pointed out that the Hawks and the Dream “are different teams with different histories” but they both share the same goal for the city: “make history”.

But to even have an issue like this overshadowing any team’s historic moment is something you just would not expect from a league that is in its 30th season, let alone in a season where the game has attracted record-breaking viewership.

The Dream’s ownership said this season’s run proved the team “had earned the right to be taken seriously”, yet it feels like the WNBA is not supporting that with their decision to opt against moving game six to be held one day later.

Then again, why did the Dream not work to lock down that venue months ago?

What do these players need to do to be taken seriously, let alone by the professional sports world in comparison to other women’s sports?

Cathy Engelbert is stepping down as commissioner of the WNBA at the end of the year and whoever replaces her will have heavy attention on their every move.

Engelbert’s tenure has been laden with criticism, with players calling out her lack of support in condemning social media abuse and also her lack of accountability on behalf of the league as a whole during collective bargaining agreement talks.

But her departure also does not hide the fact that the WNBA has struggled to escape headlines relating to racial abuse, transgender athletes and complaints about how the game is officiated.

For a competition that is reaching new heights in women’s sports, it is a mess.

With the growth of women’s sport, you’d expect more clarity and transparency relating to any of these issues, regardless of if it is the regular season or the finals. Then again, you’d also think you’d make it easy for your product to be seen by ensuring the biggest games of the season were broadcast in prime-time.

To be blunt, the handling of the scheduling clash has been embarrassing, but the WNBA only have themselves to blame. Revenue numbers and the quality of some of the games hinder the WNBA’s quest to reach the heights of the NBA in the future, but these issues make the gap even wider.

The fans deserve better, the players deserve better, and the sport deserves better.