WNBA All-Star Rhyne Howard talks about ways the league can widen its fanbase to Asia and other regions outside of North America.
Former WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard had a lot of insight on how the league can expand its audience outside of North America, with a focus on targeting hoops fans in Asia — including the Philippines.
Though Filipinos are known for their love of basketball, the WNBA still remains outside of the mainstream scene locally. While the WNBA saw tremendous growth in its current season, most of it was still centered among fans in the US and in Canada.
For Howard, it will be pertinent to tap into players’ audiences and roots outside of the US — and it will take the WNBA to be more proactive in utilizing untapped potential among other players outside of the obvious superstars.
“You know, when we market, oftentimes it's only a few players… We try to draw in the most attention from the people who have the biggest fan bases, instead of going off of the people who [have connections with certain countries],” Howard said during an online session with Philippine media and women’s basketball organizations.
“Sometimes it's not all about going after one big pot, like you can break it up into like different sections,” she added.
Howard pointed out international players like Minnesota Lynx’s Alissa Pili — a player with Samoan descent. She also said that there was no shortage of Asian players out there.
“[Alissa] has a whole another connection with the people from where she's from, but we're not marketing that, you know, [we’re not] putting into her roots as well. And so I think we can do a better job of [that],” said Howard.
“We [also] have Asian players in the league like Li Yueru, she's not marketed well enough. But just being able to disperse it better and, you know, get it out to other countries [would help],”
Unlike their counterparts in the NBA, most WNBA players also get busy during their offseason — where they sign contracts with overseas teams in Europe and in other places.
Serving as ambassadors of the game, Howard said that the WNBA can also market their players better when playing outside of the league as well.
“When we go overseas, we're not all going to one country like we're going to other places and so being able to connect and get involved with those countries… you know, getting out more. I think it'll help us a lot.” she said.
Currently, the 2024 WNBA season is smack in the middle of an entertaining best-of-five finals series between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx. Game Three is set on Thursday morning, Manila time with the series tied at 1-1.