Lara forwarded this article (similar to the Times article discussed below) from the AP discussing women's sports. It discusses the problems of declining attendance and TV ratings for the WNBA and WUSA.

I'm not sure it's true that the WNBA's attendance figures are declining or stagnant, as the AP article states. The last I saw, attendance this year has been up about 10% at WNBA games.

The AP article also has a bizarre diagnosis. The Times article said that most women's sports fans are men, and it said the problem is that not enough women like women's sports. The AP article, by contrast, implies that almost all women's sports fans are women, and it says the problem is that not enough men like women's sports. According to AP, the WNBA has given up advertising to men and is focusing instead on pitching the game to women.

I don't know which article is right (or rather: which is less wrong). But suffice it to say: the WNBA needs to work hard to grow attendance and ratings and to make the game appealing to fans, both men and women.

That said, it's always worth reminding ourselves of a point that should be obvious: TV ratings, fan interest, and profitability are often a poor measure of merit.

This year's NBA finals are a good example. Ratings were absolutely horrible -- the lowest in decades. No one watched because no one really cares much about Tim Duncan, who dominated the series. Being a Garnett-lover, I'm not much of a Duncan fan myself. But I have to admit that he is an amazing player, probably the best on the planet right now. That no one wants to watch him on TV doesn't show anything about his basketball ability.