The WNBA has long been a popular sporting option for the LGBT community, particularly lesbians. The league has long rolled out the rainbow flag for LGBT fans, especially with numerous out players, including the No. 1 pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury.
In preparation for the 2014 season, which started in early May, the WNBA did off-season research to track the interaction of LGBT fans within the league, with teams, with players, and more. The league analyzed data to see how LGBT fans attended games, how often they watch games on TV, and more.
WNBA president Laurel J. Richie told the Windy City Times in an exclusive interview that the league learned that 21 percent of lesbians surveyed have attended a WNBA game and 25 percent have watched WNBA games on TV.
So, the just-announced WNBA Pride Initiative, which launched in late May, truly shouldn't have been much of a surprise.
"The LGBT community is a significant segment of our season and ticket-holder base. We are an attractive league for them to follow, attend games, and watch on TV," Richie said. "For us, WNBA Pride is all about diversity and inclusion. From day one, the WNBA has welcomed fans of every age, ethnicity, religious background, sexual orientation … it's just part of who we are.
"The outreach to the LGBT community has been part of our marketing for years, ever since I've been here."
Richie was named WNBA president on April 21, 2011.
Presented by COVERGIRL, the 12-team WNBA now offers a new national platform celebrating inclusion and equality, while combating anti-LGBT bias, it was announced by Richie on May 21. The WNBA is the first pro sports league to establish an integrated marketing, media, grassroots and social responsibility program for the LGBT community, including a new special website, WNBA.com/pride, where league and team Pride content, events and schedules will be posted throughout the season. Information will also be shared on the league's social media channels, along with the hashtag #wnbapride.
Plus, WNBA teams will host Pride-themed games throughout June where players will wear commemorative Pride shooting shirts. WNBA Pride t-shirts designed by adidas will be available for purchase at WNBASTORE.com and at the NBA Store in New York City. Proceeds will benefit GLSEN, a long-time WNBA partner.
WNBA's Pride Initiative will be spotlighted on ESPN2 in a nationally-televised game on Sunday, June 22, when the Chicago Sky play host to the Tulsa Shock.
"We applaud our WNBA partners for creating and launching such an important initiative. The Walt Disney Company and ESPN have a long history of encouraging a welcoming environment for diverse communities, including the LGBT community, and we are proud to showcase the WNBA Pride platform to our national audience," John Skipper, ESPN President, Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks, said in a statement.
Sky general manager and head coach Pokey Chatman said, "We're honored to be a part of it. The LGBT community has been a huge part of our growth over the years so, as a league-wide initiative, it just shows that it is broader, deeper, and wider than we can take it [as just one team].
"I think it's a great thing to have the LGBT community within our fan base."
Chatman said she was not surprised with the announcement. "I think it was a nice step for our league; it kind of mirrors what's going on in society," she said. "Anything that's about inclusion and equality, I'm all about that. If you look back over the years, the NBA and the WNBA always have scored high marks with diversity, and this is just another step in that direction."
Hosting the inaugural, under-the-spotlight Pride game against Tulsa, Chatman simply said, "First is nice."
The WNBA will continue to work with a number of leading LGBT community-based organizations, including GLSEN, GLAAD, and Athlete Ally to raise awareness of inclusion through grassroots events, public service campaigns and other local activities, the league announced.
"GLSEN and our chapters are proud to continue our partnership with the WNBA during LGBT Pride Month," GLSEN executive director Eliza Byard said in a statement. "The WNBA is a sports leader in creating diverse and inclusive environments for all players and fans, and the league's commitment to supporting the LGBT community is sending a powerful message of respect to youth across the country."
"Some of my favorite memories are courtside with my wife and kids cheering on our favorite WNBA teams. For years, the WNBA has been a leading force in building support for equality on the court and in the stands," GLAAD president/CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. "The WNBA Pride platform will raise the bar in helping to end anti-LGBT bias in sports, while also celebrating the tremendous value LGBT athletes and fans bring to the game."
Richie said the WNBA spent time in May promoting the league on the grassroots level during women's events in Providencetown.
Richie said it is a team's decision, not the league's, about what will done in conjunction with local gay pride parades.
Chatman said in late May that it was still too early to know exactly what the Sky will be doing in conjunction with the Chicago Pride Parade, but the team somehow will be represented at the parade, perhaps through players, coaches and/or front-office staff, she said.
Last season, Sky player Sharnee Zoll-Norman participated in the parade, along with her wife. Zoll is now playing professionally in Poland, not in the WNBA, Chatman said.
Chatman has not attended a Pride Parade in the past, usually because of her WNBA commitments. "My first year in Chicago, I ended up getting caught in all of the traffic [delayed] by the Parade. It took me an hour and 45 minutes to get home," she said, laughing.
Richie said it is every other league's decision, not hers or the WNBA's, to decide whether or not a pride initiative works for them. But, for the WNBA, "this is a terrific way for us to reach a segment of our audience, so for us it makes sense," she said.
Richie, whose first job out of college in the early 1980s was in Chicago, will be back in the Windy City for the game against Tulsa, she confirmed.
"We're very excited about WNBA Pride," Richie said. "We have been marketing to the LGBT community for a while, and this year's Initiative is about taking all of the things that we were already doing, adding in some new elements, and unifying it all under the banner of the Pride Initiative."
When asked how much marketing does the Sky do into the LGBT community, Chatman said she was not the best Sky representative to address the topic. But, going after the LGBT fans, "that's just something we do, have done. The LGBT community has long been good to the WNBA."
And so far, LGBT fans, and all fans in general, have had plenty to cheer about at Sky games. The team is off to its best start ever, 5-1.
"I guess they won't let me screw 'em up," Chatman said, laughing. "Seriously though, I give credit to the players; they are the ones who have had to buy into our program, our system, etc. It's only [six] games, but it gives me positive thoughts about how we'll progress in the future."
The WNBA Pride Initiative also will include the fifth annual LogoTV/AfterEllen Score Your Seats Sweepstakes, where fans will have the opportunity to win a trip to a WNBA Finals game.
"Every day in the news we see that inclusion is the new standard for our society, and every day we see more and more people reject prejudice and anything that would divide us," Griner said in a statement. "I'm proud to be a part of the WNBA and NBA family that has chosen to embrace the LGBT community, not just for the out athletes like me, but also the allies and fans who love them."