The Phoenix Mercury have been booted from their home court at Footprint Center to Arizona State University’s Desert Financial Arena for Game 3 of the Semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces. As a fan, I’m pissed. As a feminist, irate. As a citizen who watches sports, all I can do is let out a sigh and move on. Game 3 will mark the second straight “home” game for the Mercury that has been moved from the normal arena in downtown Phoenix to an alternative venue. The reason? First, a concert for Colombian singer Maluma, and now, a Disney On Ice concert.
For a professional team that has called Phoenix home for nearly 25 years, made the playoffs 13 of the last 15 seasons, brought home three championship trophies, has poured money into the Phoenix community, and boasts luminary talent like Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins-Smith, and arguably the best player of all time, Diana Taurasi — to be uprooted from its home in the name of a megacorporation putting cartoon characters on ice skates, is simply insulting.
The situation wouldn’t happen at the men’s level. The men’s team would remain at its normal playing site, and the Disney On Ice concert would move. As for the women (remember them?), prejudice is expected. Innumerable times in the past gender-influenced situations like this have occurred. In 2018, the Washington Mystics played three “home” playoff games not at their traditional Capital One Arena, but 20 minutes west at George Washington University’s Smith Center. During the Finals, the Mystics were switched to George Mason University’s EagleBank Arena, an hour in the opposite direction. Playing games at three separate “home” venues that postseason, the Mystics team was tossed around like a hacky-sack in the name of scheduling conflicts. Typical.
It’s indicative of toxic American economics that Disney, one of the richest corporations in economic history, gets to cut in line in front of women’s athletics. A corporation should not outweigh a team because of gender. It’s a clear cut example of sexism in the industry. “Well, business is business,” executives will brush it. Does monetary outcome surpass human rights? Why should the women get the short end of the straw?
The WNBA has, and this is no exaggeration, always obtained less when it comes to basic athletic benefits. Female athletics have a long, rotten history of seldom being granted commodities that any male sports team would gain, like television rights, news coverage, sizable salaries, quality hotels, and rights to play in stadiums. For example, compare the 2020 bubble seasons of the NBA and the WNBA. While the men were sent to a private resort with high-class dining, spacious clubhouses, decorative hangout areas, clean bedrooms, games like golf, pool, and ping pong, and expensive boats to ride around the Disney Orlando Campus, their female counterparts were given small, damp quarters, cement laundry rooms with mouse traps, carpets with insect infestations, and dinners where every item was colored brown.
The respect, or lack thereof, that WNBA players receive compared to leagues like the NFL, NBA, and MLB is repulsive. It isn’t rare that a WNBA game is kicked out of ESPN’s schedule to make way for a college football matchup. The average WNBA salary is about 1.5 percent of the average NBA salary (NBC Sports).
“Women’s sports just don’t bring in enough money,” economists will say. It’s true; female sporting events don’t draw as much capital as male sporting events as a result of fewer ticket sales and smaller television audiences. Viewers seem to think that the WNBA is dry and lacks entertaining action. The question always arises, “Can women even dunk?” The ones who make that argument are narrow-minded and dimwitted. They compare the WNBA to the NBA as a basis of determining which games are “fun.” But that is comparing apples to oranges. Playing styles are uniquely different for men and women: men tend to be stronger and lengthier, whereas women are more nimble and balanced. The games are not the same.
The WNBA is not given the chance to impress. Sports audiences are usually too busy focusing on the standard men’s sports like NFL and NBA. At the age of ten, I was the exact same way. I waved off the possibility of the WNBA because it was on the “outside” of the classic sports leagues. My perspective changed after I attended a Mercury-Wings game in 2019 with some friends. Phoenix was without Diana Taurasi and was struggling to keep momentum through the first three quarters. In the final period, however, Brittney Griner found her rhythm, scoring 11 of 23 points on 4-for-6 shooting. She began attacking the rim and getting to the line. Her grit and determination carried Phoenix to a 69-64 win. Griner and I shared a special characteristic that night: we both flipped a switch mentally. She found her aggression and I found a new love for women’s sports.
I’ve closely followed the WNBA for about two years now, beginning around the time that Sabrina Ionescu was tearing up NCAA Women’s Basketball and was drafted first overall by the New York Liberty in the 2020 draft. Today, I keep up with the WNBA daily by checking the WNBAApp constantly (yes, they have a WNBAApp), and using Twitter to follow The GIST USA, a group that solely covers women’s sports. My hope for the future is that audiences follow in my footsteps, give the WNBA a chance to entertain, and open up to the possibility of women in sports. Close-minded thinking is not forward thinking.
Nonetheless, we move on. Feminists and activists will put their head down and continue straight ahead, powering through adversity. Mercury fans will still fill the bleachers at Desert Financial Arena and cheer their hearts out for the team. Game 3 will be monumental for Phoenix after the Mercury crushed the Aces by 26 points in game 2 to tie the series at one game apiece. If Diana Taurasi and company can win game 3, they will be a game away from making the WNBA Finals and competing for the team’s fourth championship trophy.
The boot from Footprint Center to Desert Financial Arena is an annoying hindrance, but these women have faced plenty of adversity in their lives. For them, it’s a commonality. The Mercury players are warriors and will fight to bring the title back to the rafters in Phoenix. All we can hope is that the banner will be hung at the team’s true home court.
Contact the reporter at zabradsh@asu.edu.
