Women's leagues are here to stay

But the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is set for its sixth season, and now the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) is in its second season.

A third women's pro league, the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL), suspended operations this season to concentrate on expanding its league from four teams to six or more teams in 2003.

It now appears that women's professional sports are here to stay.

"It's one of those things that every girl growing up playing basketball would hope for," said 1993 Northrop High School graduate and WNBA hopeful Leslie Johnson.

"The WNBA lasting this long is a credit. Women's pro basketball has been strong for 25 years, but not in the U.S.

"It's kind of ironic. We are the land of freedom and opportunity, yet we are just now starting to develop a successful women's pro league."

While Johnson has had to put her professional hopes on hold because of an injury, 1994 Bishop Luers High School grad Nel Fettig is competing in the WUSA for the Carolina Courage. She spent last season with the New York Power.

"When I first came out of college, if you wanted to play professional soccer and make money doing it, you had to go to Japan," she said.

Yet, women's professional leagues have not been without problems. While a record 2.3 million fans attended WNBA games last season, ratings for its national telecasts on NBC fell from 1.5 to 1.1.

Normally, a .4 percent drop is not much, but when ratings are already low, .4 is significant. Consider that the NBA playoff games televised on NBC for the week of May 27-June 2 drew an average rating of 10.7.

Local affiliates also feel the ratings drop. Ratings fell by 39 percent during WNBA games. WUSA games rated 1.0 or below last season on TNT. The league will have its games televised on PAX this season.

Part of the reason for low ratings for women's professional sports is that they are still trying to find their place demographically. Women's professional sports do not appeal to the 18- to 34-year-old male demographic that most networks covet.

"We serve a different market than most professional sports," Fettig said. "I look at the people who come to our games and it's families. You see a lot of little girls."

Pro women's athletes devote considerable time to spreading the word about professional women's sports.

"We did a clinic for 60 kids in Chapel Hill," Fettig said. "In New York, we did an appearance with the Yankees at Niketown. I think for us, being a new league, we have to get out there in the community as much as we can so people can see us on a daily basis and know we are here."