Reply #27: She's wrong BUT, there is a point [View All]

[tkmorris]

Women's sports do not sell particularly well. They have their ups and downs but they are ALWAYS struggling to keep up. There is a very good reason for that.

By and large people will not pay to watch second rate competitions. I know a lot of you just labeled me a hopeless sexist but hear me out. It isn't the womens fault that this is true, nor is it their fault that it's second rate. Furthermore, that sad fact is not particular to womens sports. For example not many people watch Triple A baseball, nor the second level golf tour for men (used to be called the Ben Hogan tour). The MLS struggles because soccer fans are aware that it's not at the level of the European leagues, though being the only game in town it hangs on.

Ok, back to what Stephenson said. I disagree with her tone a great deal and so on but I DO think she recognizes that difficulty in competing with men's top level sports. If the PGA is to do well it has to provide something that men's sports does not. In her mind it appears that that is sex appeal. Perhaps not blatantly so, she argues that in some ways the Asian players are simply not accessible enough, not personable. She appears to think that this hurts the WPGA. She's right, provided what she says about the Asian players is true and it appears to be, at least to me. The womens tour has always sold it's players, the personalities, the people behind the game. And yes, sex. If those things are decreased by the cultural differences the Asians bring with them it does hurt the sport. In it's pocketbook anyway.