Because if they're planning on selling women's basketball to men, it's going to be a very long haul. The WNBA tips off Saturday with eight teams playing a 28-game schedule. In between, the league will get an unprecedented amount of attention. The WNBA people are smart enough to set the bar low. Projected attendance this season is 4,000 a game.
Nobody needs that.
But unless women turn out in numbers, that is what they will get. The truth is that men won't support the league anytime soon. Maybe not even enough to meet the league's modest attendance and television ratings targets. Think about it. The best thing about men's pro sports isn't the relative handfuls of unhappy millionaires who play the games or own them.