Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Lack of a Regulated Brand Continues to Thwart the Rise of Professional Women's Team Sports Leagues.

The Obvious reasons why Women's Team Sports Leagues usually struggle for acceptance and financial solvency do relate to the fact that Men's Team Sports Leagues already exist. Women's Team Sports Leagues literally have an elephant in the room to compete with, Men's Team Sports. However, Men's Team Sports Leagues seem to be more supportive these days regarding Women's Team Sport's leagues.

There is another factor weighing in that needs to be exposed in regards to why Women's Team Sports Leagues struggle to gain acceptance, and the root cause is something right under everyone's nose.

Let us take as an example Women's baseball, oh wait, softball, no wait, fast pitch softball, no wait, Women's Hardball Baseball with slightly modified dimensions from Women who play on Men's  Baseball team. And there it is, FOUR different Women's Baseball leagues all vying for acceptance. And even with four different leagues, a fifth could be added in which softball dimensions are updated for the Women players. I watched NCAA Women's fast pitch finals and the players have clearly outgrown the dimensions of the field.  So we could even call it five different types of Women's baseball and Softball all vying for the the same major stream of Sponsorship dollars that is actually available.

Boys and Men's Baseball and Softball really don't have this issue. Boys and Men generally play either softball, or baseball, and if one wants to be professional, they focus on baseball. Little league and below have one set of distances, Pony League and higher have another set of distances.

While many young girls are probably frustrated and feeling as if they are not getting their fair chance to become a baseball professional, the reality is the women who came before them and who are recognized as the true leaders of a women's baseball or softball movement, each grew up on a DIFFERENT BRAND of Baseball or Softball. They sincerely believe that if only one Brand of Professional Baseball or Softball can succeed professionally, it might as well be the Brand they played.

The results are very distinct passions for the specific Brand of Baseball or Softball played by Women who play that specific brand of Baseball or Softball when they were girls.

Women's Team Sports are literally in the Wild, Wild, West stage of development. A fact recently borne out when the USA Soccer team defeated Thailand 13-0 and was shamed for doing so. During the first Wild, Wild West of Men's Team Sports in America, a good thrashing was the best motivation for the thrashed Male Sports team to work and be better. Now that society has become "more civilized", a team should win, but apparently they should win within reason so the other team feels no public shame nor motivation to get better, gasp. The ability of the superior team to keep improving is thwarted as they must play down to the level of the team they play. That's not how Men's Team Sports did it in their early days.

If ever the concept of Branding needed an explanation as to its significance, the multiple versions of Girls and Women's Baseball and Softball illustrate that until one Brand breaks through, the entire Women's Baseball movement may languish.

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