03 Feb. 2016 – The 2016 Lebanese women basketball league has started, with Al Riyadi and Homenetmen once again the favorites to win the title as they have largely dominated their opponent in the first 2 games.
But, on the contrary of last year, the Lebanese basketball federation has imposed an entrance fee to watch the games, which is 5000 L.L just like in the men’s league. Was this step necessary and beneficial for the federation and the women’s league or did it just kill the fans presence?
First, let’s look at the teams fan base and who they are made of. Apart from Riyadi and Homenetmen, we do not see many people following the other teams. Indeed, the majority of fans following other teams are usually the players family members. At centre Demerdjian, there were many people watching the game from the glass outside as they did not want to pay the entrance fee.
Lebanon
So is it worth it for the federation to impose this fee? Is it making any worthy profit that is funding federation activities? Probably not. Moreover, the atmosphere in men games does not allow a lot of young fans and families to attend the games, so they might be interested in going to the women games as it used to be free charge. But now, with the charge, the fans and especially large families will be less motivated to go. It would be better for the federation to promote the league in a much better way, give it more T.V coverage to encourage sponsors investment and then impose a fee as fans would be willing to pay to watch.
Now if the federation sees it fit to impose the 5000L.L starting this season, they could avoid doing it in the regular season and start doing in semi finals for instance, as more people are interested in the advanced stages.
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