cal marketing with markeisha at the helm lost the unique opportunity to sell out haas pavilion with no competition

wbb thrives in college towns with no other professional competition for the sports fan dollar

go valkyries (in an empty haas)!

Marketing is fine, but winning is the key.

And Haas is not an attractive venue. Hard to park, old, no students supplying energy ...

There are a lot of reasons Cal women's basketball doesn't draw, but two stand out to me:

1) Not winning 20+ game a year;

2) Students don't come to the games.

We have already conducted the experiment - when you win, people show up, when you lose, they don't. Same will be true with a WNBA team.

sf72, i wuz a floor seat donor thru the gottlieb era, she actually introduced me to ionescu's parents on sabrina's official visit to cal

Average attendance in 2019 = 3003
Average attendance in 2024 = 1639 (11th in the league)

Those are the numbers, unless there is an alternative set of facts available somewhere.

Valkyries ?

Terrible name.

Go Valkyries !???

I don't even know how to pronounce

Warriors were over thinking this

HoopDreams said:

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Valkyries ?

Terrible name.

Go Valkyries !???

I don't even know how to pronounce

Warriors were over thinking this

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I remember when the first name for Oakland's new AFL football team was the Oakland Senors. They had to change the name to Raiders before the season even started. Will probably happen here as well.

BearBint said:

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Come on, Bears, you can cope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkyrie

Over time, Valkyrie has become synonymous with a valiant female warrior. My considerable Scandinavian DNA is please by this choice (and BearBloke and BearDaughter are happy, too). The important thing is that the WNBA is growing, and right in our own back yard.

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sport teams names have evolved over time ... in the past, animals were probably the most popular and I still like (Go Bears!)

Peoples were also popular (49ers, Steelers, Boilermakers, Indians) which I've never liked

Some teams uniquely tie their team name to their location (Jazz, Aces, Pistons, Rockies)

I like one of the newer trends for things like (Heat, Magic, Dream, Flames)

Logos are also important, as are colors (Sharks got both right)

It's all marketing and that's important, and of course it's personal preference

S said:

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Sport teams names have evolved over time ... in the past, animals were probably the most popular and I still like (Go Bears!)

Peoples were also popular (49ers, Steelers, Boilermakers, Indians) which I've never liked

Some teams uniquely tie their team name to their location (Jazz, Aces, Pistons, Rockies)

I like one of the newer trends for things like (Heat, Magic, Dream, Flames)

Logos are also important, as are colors (Sharks got both right)

It's all marketing and that's important, and of course it's personal preference

---

I still prefer the animal/totemic names, like the Wolverines. Pistons is a great name, but how did Utah get Jazz? The team that moved from New Orleans, right? Somehow, Utah never struck me as a jazzy kind of state...

So Valkyries refers to "Choosers of the Slain" under Norse mythology. Wonder why no sports team has used this name before. When you have to explain it to your fans, you probably want to go in a different direction.

How about the Southern Illinois salukis (Egyptian dog). Or the Marshal University's Thundering Herd.

Name is ok but hate the lavender….ugh. I'll still buy season tickets but no swag. Of course it's an homage in itself as is the triangle so that's cool.

Couldn't use Amazons (warrior women) so I guess Valkyrie is next best option?

Yes, Jazz was when team was in New Orleans … a downside to choosing a location based name

Hopefully 49ers don't move to Minnesota

BearBint said:

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S said:

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Sport teams names have evolved over time ... in the past, animals were probably the most popular and I still like (Go Bears!)

Peoples were also popular (49ers, Steelers, Boilermakers, Indians) which I've never liked

Some teams uniquely tie their team name to their location (Jazz, Aces, Pistons, Rockies)

I like one of the newer trends for things like (Heat, Magic, Dream, Flames)

Logos are also important, as are colors (Sharks got both right)

It's all marketing and that's important, and of course it's personal preference

---

I still prefer the animal/totemic names, like the Wolverines. Pistons is a great name, but how did Utah get Jazz? The team that moved from New Orleans, right? Somehow, Utah never struck me as a jazzy kind of state...

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SFCALBear72 said:

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ClayK said:

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Marketing is fine, but winning is the key.

And Haas is not an attractive venue. Hard to park, old, no students supplying energy ...

There are a lot of reasons Cal women's basketball doesn't draw, but two stand out to me:

1) Not winning 20+ game a year;

2) Students don't come to the games.

---

Why are you hijacking this thread with another one of your negative rants about Cal WBB?? This is about the new WNBA franchise in San Francisco.

How would you know if students do or do not come to games? They do! When was the last time you were in Haas for a WBB game?

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BearBint said:

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S said:

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Sport teams names have evolved over time ... in the past, animals were probably the most popular and I still like (Go Bears!)

Peoples were also popular (49ers, Steelers, Boilermakers, Indians) which I've never liked

Some teams uniquely tie their team name to their location (Jazz, Aces, Pistons, Rockies)

I like one of the newer trends for things like (Heat, Magic, Dream, Flames)

Logos are also important, as are colors (Sharks got both right)

It's all marketing and that's important, and of course it's personal preference

---

I still prefer the animal/totemic names, like the Wolverines. Pistons is a great name, but how did Utah get Jazz? The team that moved from New Orleans, right? Somehow, Utah never struck me as a jazzy kind of state...

---

Among things related to San Francisco I can think of:

Fog - boring color, weird mascot, already taken by London
Cable Cars - even weirder mascot
Sourdough - weirder still mascot
Gold Diggers - not in the 21st Century
Doom Loop - hopefully short lived

Our future radio announcers will try pronouncing "Valkyries" a couple of times, and will then immediately shorten it to "The Vals", which no one will understand. If there are a lot of potential Norwegian Bay Area fans out there, though, it could be a winner.

Look around at some of our good local high school monikers, and adopt one of those.

annarborbear said:

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As we've discussed before, I would have also located the team in Oakland. Better chance to reach the 10,000 fans that once attended our games.

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Agreed. I would so love to get on Bart and be at a W game in half an hour.

stu said:

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BearBint said:

---

S said:

---

Sport teams names have evolved over time ... in the past, animals were probably the most popular and I still like (Go Bears!)

Peoples were also popular (49ers, Steelers, Boilermakers, Indians) which I've never liked

Some teams uniquely tie their team name to their location (Jazz, Aces, Pistons, Rockies)

I like one of the newer trends for things like (Heat, Magic, Dream, Flames)

Logos are also important, as are colors (Sharks got both right)

It's all marketing and that's important, and of course it's personal preference

---

I still prefer the animal/totemic names, like the Wolverines. Pistons is a great name, but how did Utah get Jazz? The team that moved from New Orleans, right? Somehow, Utah never struck me as a jazzy kind of state...

---

Among things related to San Francisco I can think of:

Fog - boring color, weird mascot, already taken by London
Cable Cars - even weirder mascot
Sourdough - weirder still mascot
Gold Diggers - not in the 21st Century
Doom Loop - hopefully short lived

---

well there is the bay bridge which is part of their logo ...

Apologies for responding to Shocky ... I should know better.

Very excited about the Valkyries, despite the name.

Most WNBA contracts run out after the 2025 season, when the new CBA will be negotiated. At that point, Joe Lacob can start buying players and could put together a very good team very quickly.

The big issue will be the structure of the salary cap. As of now, it is very low, and the elite players routinely take less than the max (around $250,000) to play on a good team. Presumably the difference is made up with under the table payments either directly to the players or to family members. (Mark Davis in Las Vegas, for example, could get a relative of A'ja Wilson's a job with a casino, or anywhere, and it wouldn't affect the salary cap, but it would be money coming into Wilson's family.)

I would expect Lacob to hit the salary cap, exploit every loophole and put together a quality team in 2026. He will not get a shot at drafting Paige Bueckers next year, and the draft won't help -- but the W, unlike a lot of leagues, is going to be driven by free agency and signing players that have proved themselves in the league rather than building through the draft.

10,000 ticket deposits and counting!

Less than a week after announcing the GOLDEN STATE VALKYRIES, we have received over 2,500 deposits and have surpassed 10,000 deposits.

Join our ascent » https://t.co/GYeuNsFb5i pic.twitter.com/GMkkCIxlxO

— Golden State Valkyries (@wnbagoldenstate) May 17, 2024

Btw, I was listening to a podcast that said the WNBA hasn't established how the draft lottery will be done next year. Until those rules are established, there's a chance GS could still draft Bueckers.

Write it down: The Valkyries will not get a lottery pick, and unless Bueckers drops to number five, there is zero chance she will be in the Bay Area next year.

10,000 ticket deposits and counting!

Less than a week after announcing the GOLDEN STATE VALKYRIES, we have received over 2,500 deposits and have surpassed 10,000 deposits.

Join our ascent » https://t.co/GYeuNsFb5i pic.twitter.com/GMkkCIxlxO

— Golden State Valkyries (@wnbagoldenstate) May 17, 2024

the truth is that the valkyries EPIC tix sales speaks volume to the bay area/nor cal remarkable passion for basketball at a time that golden state warrior tixs are only affordable to the very affluent

The merch line for Valkyries gear right now 🤝

The Bay is READY to rep their @wnba team pic.twitter.com/D38aIAGjD5

— Golden State Valkyries (@wnbagoldenstate) May 18, 2024

the fact that cal men's & women's basketball attendance is ABYSMAL (which then creates fatal pipeline NIL fundraising) speaks to the 100% marketing failures (most notably not offering FREE tixs to all students) of the obstinate & non innovative markeisha everett who wuz hired by general james knowlton

Innovation defined: new ideas + put into practice

— Rich Lyons (@richlyons) March 14, 2024

hire worthless bureaucrats & u get an empty haas, got it?

We are the Golden State Valkyries

Narrated by Kehlani pic.twitter.com/VGY0AAJKa5

— Golden State Valkyries (@wnbagoldenstate) May 14, 2024

interesting listen.

they also talk about how the team's name was chosen. SPOILER: it was more fan-driven than you think.

🚨A very special episode of Dubs Talk🚨@MontePooleNBCS and myself talked with @wnbagoldenstate team president Jess Smith and GM Ohemaa Nyanin about everything going on with the Valkyries, the Caitlin Clark Effect on the WNBA and more https://t.co/L1bqLWXv9k

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) June 5, 2024

This thread got me wondering, (and excuse me if I sound naive.)

Will the arrival of the Valkyries cause the attendance/interest in Cal WBB to go down based on it being considered an alternative? Or will it help attendance/interest in Cal WBB to go up, since there's a decent chance that some of these fans will be more exposed to WBB in general, thus causing a spillover to the college game?

I bring this up because surprisingly I know a few people who pay attention to the NFL and NBA, but have little interest in college football and basketball.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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This thread got me wondering, (and excuse me if I sound naive.)

Will the arrival of the Valkyries cause the attendance/interest in Cal WBB to go down based on it being considered an alternative? Or will it help attendance/interest in Cal WBB to go up, since there's a decent chance that some of these fans will be more exposed to WBB in general, thus causing a spillover to the college game?

I bring this up because surprisingly I know a few people who pay attention to the NFL and NBA, but have little interest in college football and basketball.

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The strongest correlates historically for our women's basketball attendance have been winning and national recognition. Although attracting some well-known local high school recruits can add to that.

I wonder if the spark of Caitlin Clark will mean the interest in WBB will increase across the board