The Post-Gazette notes that while Pittsburgh continues to “court” a WNBA franchise, there’s growing skepticism about the viability of such a team here.
There should be. And on a number of fronts.
You may recall that the Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority (SEA) already has agreed to spend up to $40,000 to pay a consultant to conduct a financial feasibility study “that could be used by a potential ownership group to make a case for a team in Pittsburgh,” the P-G says.
“The analysis was to look at the cost of running a WNBA team, estimated operating revenues and other financial aspects. The study is now being ‘rounded out’ and will be given to those interested in pursuing a team,” the P-G reports.
But SEA captain Aaron Waller says the study won’t be shared publicly.
What?!
The SEA is a public authority expending public dollars. The public has every right to know what this study concludes – if not how many more taxpayer dollars any future WNBA franchise hopes to extract from the public pocket.
But let’s get back to the egg here, so to speak: The only money that should be spent on any feasibility study to determine if a WNBA franchise could succeed in Pittsburgh is WNBA money, and that of a private prospective owner or ownership group. The public has no business being a venture capitalist for what should be a wholly private venture.
All this said, there are serious doubts if a WNBA franchise could even succeed in Pittsburgh.
Ronald Dick, associate professor of sports marketing in the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business at Duquesne University, tells the P-G that a WNBA team would have to siphon fans from one of the city’s other professional sports teams to be successful.
“Who will consume this product?” asked Dick, who spent 13 years with the NBA’s 76ers and Nets. “Where are we going to get them from? Are we going to take away from the Pirates or the Penguins in April? Or the Steelers in September? I doubt it.
“Where do they come from if we’re not growing as a city in terms of population?” he asked.
Indeed.
Dick reminded that a WNBA team also would be competing with summer vacation season and even AAU basketball tournaments for attention. “I don’t know that we have the appetite to support this,” he told the P-G.
Which is one of dozens of pretty good reasons not to throw taxpayer money at an enterprise that deserves none.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@allghenyinstitute.org).
