Defeated Loeffler is bad for WNBA’s business
Now that Georgians have kicked Kelly Loeffler to the curb, the WNBA needs to do the same.
Yes, payback is a large part of the reason, and I’ll get to that. But this is also about business, and the WNBA can no longer ignore the fact that Loeffler is a liability. An even greater one than the Atlanta Dream’s co-owner already was these past few months, given that whatever clout or cachet Loeffler might have brought to the league as a U.S. senator is now gone.
Even in a pandemic, when Americans’ minds were obviously on other things, the WNBA showed signs of both strength and drawing power last summer. The league got more airtime than ever before, and ratings were up. The players’ social justice work, and the recognition that this has been a focus of theirs for years, won them new fans and prompted others to take a second look.
The WNBA needs to build on that, and Loeffler’s continued ownership stake in the Dream will only detract from those efforts.
Loeffler’s toxic effect won’t just go away, making her a drag on both the Dream and the WNBA. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert tried to split hairs last summer, saying the league wouldn’t try to force out Loeffler because she wasn’t involved in the team’s day-to-day operations.
But that distinction will be lost to the general public. It’s not the depth of Loeffler’s involvement that’s at issue. It’s that she’s involved, period.
Besides, from the simple financial perspective, there will never be a better time for the Dream to be shopped, whether it’s the team as a whole or Loeffler’s 49% stake.
After it became clear Tuesday the Rev. Raphael Warnock was going to defeat Loeffler, LeBron James tweeted, “Think I’m gone put together an ownership group for The Dream. Whose in?”
Now, it’s not clear if James can actually own an WNBA team while he is still an active NBA player, given the ties between the leagues and restrictions in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. But James has a lot of friends, and they’ve already proved they can get creative when it comes to setting up business endeavors that intersect and overlap with the NBA.
James’ idea drew support. Mookie Betts of MLB’s Dodgers, Pro Football Hall of Famer Champ Bailey and World Cup soccer champion Abby Wambach were among the famous names to express interest in joining him.
If James is serious, Engelbert and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver would be doing the WNBA a disservice by not taking advantage of his significant spotlight. The WNBA is almost 25 years old, and it does not need any man to be its savior. Ask those who know the game – really know the game – and they’ll vouch for the WNBA’s level of play. But women’s sports still struggle for attention and coverage, and James would make the league impossible to ignore for the immediate future.
And for the Neanderthals who love to disparage women’s sports, it would be one hell of a clapback for one of the greatest to ever play the game to say he believes so strongly in the WNBA – on and off the court – that he’s willing to put his money behind it.
The WNBA didn’t start this fight, Loeffler did. It’s funny how she didn’t object when WNBA players protested policy brutality of Black and brown men and women back in 2016. Nor did she say anything publicly when the WNBA partnered with Planned Parenthood.
Only when it became politically expedient did Loeffler take a blowtorch to the WNBA players and their causes.
She mischaracterized the Black Lives Matter movement and objected to the players spotlighting the “Say Her Name” campaign last season. When WNBA players called on her to sell the Dream, Loeffler styled herself as a victim – apparently forgetting that objecting to what someone is saying is not the same as preventing someone from speaking.
And when she was forced into a runoff against Warnock, Loeffler doubled down, waging a campaign steeped in both racism and elitism.
But Loeffler and her hateful rhetoric were rejected in historic fashion. Warnock will be the second Black senator from the South.
The WNBA needs to follow suit. Loeffler isn’t just a bad owner. She’s bad for the WNBA’s business.