I’m a sucker for NBA store Australia and have a brand-newborn baby bump I’m trying to accommodate this current year, so I clicked. And at first, the ad delivers. This is the first banner image you can see about the NBA store’s website:
What gives, NBA? I clicked upon an ad for folks who want to “dress such as the pros.” I used to be good to go to “shop now” as a “serious fan.” But there’s this special ladies section for those who desire to dress like Alyssa Milano I’m supposed to click on instead? No thanks, guys. I’ve never seen Kevin Garnett within a fitted burnt-out tee. And although I’m mindful of the fact that men’s and women’s clothing is generally cut a little differently, I still like my hoodies with plenty of room to accommodate some beer and nachos. In fact, everyone likes to feel at ease watching the overall game.
But nevertheless, no problem. That wasn’t the page for me, so I scrolled back to the first selection for player tees and clicked on that instead. Scanning the 1st page, though, it was actually clear that “serious fan” is definitely code for dudes, and because I’m not just a dude, I’m not designed to want a Mavericks tee seems like something Chandler Parsons would wear; I’m meant to wish to look like Alyssa Milano.
To numerous people, this just doesn’t appear to be a large deal. After all, it’s not completely impossible to get women’s NBA apparel that isn’t super tight or does form of resemble the gear the players wear, though they often allow it to be pretty challenging. But this really is concerning the message the NBA sends featuring its marketing, as well as for so many ladies who love basketball, it’s a very frustrating and demoralizing message: men are serious fans who require serious gear that appears like precisely what the athletes wear, and women should worry much more about the direction they look when they arrive on the games.
Athletes are the only people worldwide who make seven figures and still have to demonstrate up for are employed in a uniform, and this conformity results in a fairly important part of the emotional experience for almost all fans. With regards to selling stuff to men, the league takes this experience really seriously. In fact, they accept it so seriously that they can actually changed just what the players wear.
The league thought its male fans would feel much more comfortable in and for that reason pony up additional money for jerseys with sleeves, now players sometimes wear jerseys with sleeves. Players hate them, though, and in many cases if their claims that their play suffers while using them don’t really last, it’s a fairly bold move on the part of the NBA, and something that only will make it more frustrating the league doesn’t take its female fans just like seriously. The league is happy to piss of its players if this means their male fans feel more at ease, however it can’t be bothered to throw in multiple token women’s Lakers hoodie around the front page when it advertises clothing for serious fans? How come we have Alyssa Milano instead?
If men’s apparel choices are about reinforcing that experience of oneness together with the team, women’s are about marking the wearer as distinctive from the players, as somehow less hardcore, less serious. The garments are tight or sequined or pink or… whatever this is:
A version of the shoes once featured prominently within a promotional email sent from the NBA Store. I’m sure they fit with the aesthetic of some female fans, but I received this email because I’ve previously forked over a good price of cash on the NBA singlets Sydney, usually after a good deal of complaining about my options, instead of one item I’ve purchased should’ve given them any indication that I’d be curious about these heels. I may be a woman, but I’m also one of many people who would like to “dress just like the pros,” and I’ve never seen an NBA player wear anything remotely similar (besides, I’m confident only Russell Westbrook could actually pull that look off).
Every item is covered in sequins or cropped or designed in some way to remind me that, being a female fan, my first priority needs to be looking great.
To get completely clear: I don’t believe that getting a lacy Dallas Mavericks shirt ensures that you’re not much of a serious fan. Men and women alike experience fandom differently and also the clothing they wear (or want to wear) to convey their fandom should reflect that. I’m sure you will find women available that do want those platform heels, just because there are male fans who’d probably appreciate a bit more variety within their options, although the NBA has decided there are 2 kinds of fans it wishes to market to: serious men and classy ladies.
And it is a really bad message, one which ensnares female fans in the vicious cycle where a woman’s sense of style and her serious fandom are branded as mutually exclusive. When the tight shirts and sequins do occur to attract your style or perhaps you cave and acquire it because there aren’t very many selections for the team you support, then you’re walking into an arena or perhaps a sports bar already branded from the NBA as unserious, as someone whose passion for or familiarity with the overall game is automatically suspect. This isn’t a really welcoming environment (it’s exhausting to constantly hear such things as “so your husband’s really into basketball?”), and when women don’t feel welcome as fans, it’s understandable that the league will find its hardcore fan base as mostly men and then market its “serious” gear accordingly.
Well, it’s type of understandable. In case the NBA were operating a chain of brick and mortar stores, stocking inventory in advance with no power to concentrate on the customers walking in, I’d be 16dexspky sympathetic. But the positive aspect of selling things online is that all you really have to show people is a picture of your clothing, and you could organize those pictures any way you desire. Most of the time, the NBA can be a league I feel excellent supporting. It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s generally the most forward-looking of the four professional leagues.
But right now, the NBA chooses to organize and promote its NBA Australia in ways that sends your message that women aren’t real fans. We are real fans, though, as well as every female sports fan I understand shares these complaints. It’s time for something new.