A study surveyed 104 female youth basketball players aged 7-18 in the San Francisco Bay Area about the potential social impacts of bringing a WNBA team to the region. The survey found that a WNBA team could positively influence the female youth by providing role models and aspirations. Younger players aged under 5th grade (100%) saw more positive influence than older players in 11th-12th grade (84%). The results suggest that a WNBA team could have significant social benefits through relationships with local youth communities.

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Social benefits of bringing a WNBA team to the San Francisco Bay Area
Authors: Abhi Bhatt, Jonathan Chew, Robert Thompson, Lindsay Trout

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Abstract
This paper uses an interview with a local youth organization, and an electronic survey to
investigate the potential social impact that a WNBA team could bring to the San Francisco Bay
Area community. The survey data collected from 104 Bay Area adolescent female basketball
players aged seven to 18 found the perceived impact differs among various ages, with 100% of
female youth under 5th grade gaining a positive influence from a WNBA team compared to 84%
among 11th­12th graders. The results suggest that a significant social impact can result by a
symbiotic relationship between a WNBA team and the youth of a community.
Introduction
The WNBA, now celebrating its 20 year anniversary, is amidst a time of change. With
some teams being uprooted and moving to other locations (i.e. the Tulsa Shock moving to
Dallas), it is no secret that location matters to an organization. But how can the addition of a
WNBA team also benefit the community surrounding it? Given that “sports represent the shared
norms and values of [a] community in which class and race differences disappear when cheering
for the home team” (Eckstein & Delaney, 2002, p. 238), our research focuses on the female
youth in the Bay Area, and the social benefits that could result by bringing a WNBA team to
their community.
Why should a WNBA team be brought to the Bay Area? Because the area has had its fair
share of success in the sporting world, especially in recent years. For example, the are some

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recent Bay Area professional sports accomplishments: the Warriors were the 2015 NBA
champions and 2016 Western Conference Champions, the San Francisco Giants were the World
Series Champions in 2010, 2012, and 2014, and the San Jose Sharks made it to their first Stanley
Cup this season. With team success comes the rise of individual stars such as Steph Curry and
Buster Posey, both athletes whose images are admired by youth, especially in their local
communities. However, these examples raise a question: what Bay Area female athletes do local
youth females have to look up to? In a 2016 USA Today article, ESPN analyst Stephanie White
said, “​for young girls, sports can give you confidence — going out and competing, especially in
youth sports when you’re playing with the boys in the same age group. It can provide the
confidence that you can accomplish anything you want to accomplish” (Barnett, 2016, p. 1). ​The
implications of bringing a WNBA team to the Bay Area can do more than solely provide female
youth with role models; it can also present them with the dream of playing for a WNBA team,
potentially one in their own backyard. This is simply one of the areas that we will discuss in our
research.
What makes our question unique is the lack of research done surrounding the WNBA,
especially pertaining to league expansion into the Bay Area, and the beneficial effects on the
community. In it’s 20th season, the league is overflowing with stars such as Elena Delle Donne,
Skylar Diggins, Maya Moore, and Diana Taurasi, all of whom we believe are great role models
for women. We believe that the diverse Bay Area fan base, in addition to the current rise of the
WNBA, would present a uniquely opportune time to bring a team to this community. It is evident
that “sports teams are becoming more and more popular as a source of community of which
people can be a part [of]” and as such would help strengthen local Bay Area communities (Heere

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& James, 2007, p. 324). Although we have seen studies that discuss the economic implications of
bringing a professional team to an area, few have researched what it can do for a community
rather than for an organization. Our goal is to accomplish that.
The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Approved by the National Basketball Association (NBA) Board of Governors, the
Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) was founded on April 24, 1996 (WNBA,
2016). “The WNBA’s first game was played on June 21, 1997 with the New York Liberty taking
on the Los Angeles Sparks in Los Angeles before a crowd of 14,284 spectators” (Staffo, 1998, p.
187). The league is the most successful and longest running women’s sport league in the United
States (Zhang, Pennington­Gray, Connaughton, Braunstein, Ellis, Lam, and Williamson, 2003).
Currently there are 12 WNBA teams and this season the league will celebrate its 20​th​
season
anniversary with a “20​th​
” logo and extended media coverage from various outlets throughout the
season.
The San Francisco Bay Area
Located in Northern California, the San Francisco Bay Area is home to over seven
million residents (Bay Area Census, 2010). Stretching from wine country in Napa Valley to the
Silicon Valley, the Bay Area is represented with nine counties and over 101 cities (Bay Area
Census, 2010). It is also home to at least seven professional teams and many other college
athletics programs. With the Bay Area being a major metropolitan area and having a large sports
offering, the one professional team missing is a WNBA franchise.
Social Impact

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One of the unique things about sports is its ability to have an impact socially on the
community (Pye, Toohey & Graham, 2015, p. 1204). Here, we specifically explore what type of
social impact a WNBA team in the San Francisco Bay Area would have, and whether or not the
WNBA players would be viewed as role models to local youth female basketball players.
As citizens of a community, we naturally view athletes as role models as they play a
significant role in the community, especially for our female adolescent youth. According to
Yancey (2008), the idea of a role model usually refers to “an individual who is perceived as
exemplary or worthy of identification or imitation” (Guest, and Cox, 2009, p. 568). People­­both
fans of the sport and athletes­­emulate others because of the success they see on the court or field
of play. Since they have observed the athletes’ path and considered it successful, they will tailor
their actions in hopes of being successful themselves.
In relation to that, Addis (1996) digs deeper into the significance of role models, and
believes that the focus is not solely on the imitation of someone, but rather the identification with
a “comprehensive set of characteristics that society associates with success” (Guest, and Cox,
2009, p. 568). People see others achieve their goals and learn how to become successful. As they
try to emulate others’ success, they study and adopt the success factors of their role models, and
implement those factors and characteristics into their own lives.
Addis’s role model concept comes from the expansion of Merton’s sociological role
theory. In that Merton believes that “the influence of role models came from providing a
reference point for the behaviors associated with specialized roles ­ such as physical attributes
and talents” (Guest, and Cox, 2009, p. 569). In the sporting context, people follow and are
influenced by role models based on their behaviors. When people see they are successful, they

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want to be just as successful at achieving their goals, and will emulate the behaviors similar to
their role models because they want the same thing as well.
The focus of our study examines the positive attributes of bringing a WNBA team to the
Bay Area. A team and their athletes are not only role models to others in a community, but they
also have a positive impact that adolescent female youth may gain from interactions with the
players or organization at WNBA events, including games, and team­sponsored activities such as
basketball camps and community service events.
Theory
The Social Capital Theory (SCT) has been defined as “any aspect of social structure that
creates value and facilitates the actions of the individuals within that social structure, an
‘investment in social relations with expected returns’” (Bruening, Clark, Mudrick, 2015, p. 89).
The SCT focuses on the existence and effectiveness of an individual or group’s social network.
One approach considers the strength of the ties used by members of a group. Members of a social
group will likely have strong ties with other group members, ultimately fostering the sharing of
information and resources once acquired by one. Weak ties exist between two different, but
connected, social groups, providing “a source of unique information and resources” (Seibert,
2001, p. 220). Here, SCT can be most relevantly applied to female children and adolescents of
the Bay Area as they will likely be most significantly socially impacted by a WNBA team
located in the region. Mentoring and youth sports academy programs can be created between
professional women’s basketball players and young girls, ultimately expanding the latter’s
network.
Variables

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● Female youth wanting to attend a WNBA basketball camp
● Female youth having a positive role model to look up to
● Female youth wanting to have a future goal to play in the WNBA
Methodology
The research design we will use is a cross­sectional design in which we will
electronically send out surveys. Our approach falls under purposive sampling in which we are
specifically targeting the following population: youth females who play basketball, live in the
Bay Area, and are between the ages of 7­18. With a confidence level of 95% and confidence
interval of 5%, our aim is to survey a target population of 100 individuals within this population.
Because we are conducting human subject research by surveying youth girls that are
minors, we will also provide a consent form with each survey to be filled out by parents or
guardians to provide informed consent. In the consent form, we will provide information
regarding the nature of our study. Further, we will state that subject identities will remain
confidential, and that we will not use any names or identifiers in our data to protect the privacy
of our sample. Lastly, we will state that once data is collected, no one unauthorized will have
access to it.
Further, we will conduct an interview with a representative from the PCA as we feel that
local Bay Area organizations could partner with a WNBA team when conducting community
service opportunities. ​The data that we will collect from our surveys and interview, compared
with existing WNBA team community outreach opportunities, will help determine how effective
a Bay Area WNBA team could positively impact the social development of adolescent girls and

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community organizations.​ This data will also help us to further understand our targeted
population in hopes of building strong arguments around our hypothesis.

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Results
Demographics were obtained from 92 of 104 survey responses, which represent a
completion percentage of 88.4. All of the respondents were in high school or below of which the
largest groups represented were under 5​th​
grade (25%) and 11​th​
­12​th​
grade (29%).
With our survey, we wanted to see what the general understanding of the WNBA was and
to gauge the importance of having a WNBA team in the community. What we found in the
results is that ninety­seven percent of the respondents stated at least some importance in bringing
a WNBA team to the San Francisco Bay Area. However, we noticed a trend where the
importance level decreases as the respondents grade levels increased.
With our survey we also wanted to see if the respondents knew any current or former
WNBA players. By taking the averages among the various grade levels we found out that
56.83% can name a current or former WNBA player while 43.17% were unable to do so.
Further, we noticed that two grade levels among the five had a large percentage of being able to
name a current or former WNBA player; grade 7​th​
­8​th​
had the highest recognition rate with
71.4% and grade 11​th​
­12​th​
had a recognition rate of 69.2%.
Further, we also wanted to see what type of impact a WNBA team in the San Francisco
Bay Area would have and according to responses, none stated that there would be a “bad” or
negative impact. Instead, a majority of the responses stated that having a WNBA team would
either have a “good” or “very good” impact on the region. By analyzing the data, we noticed a
trend where the impact level decreases as the grade levels increases. Lower grade level, such as
those under 5th grade & grades 5​th​
­6​th​
overwhelmingly believed that the impact would be “very

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good”. While the other grade levels still believe the impact would be “very good”, a majority of
the responses are “good”.
Part of our survey examined the motivations for getting into basketball and the impact of
a role model. According to the survey responses, ninety­seven percent of the responses stated
that their motivation to get into basketball was because they enjoy playing the sport or that they

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play because of their family and friends; very few stated that it was a good way to exercise (3%).
It was surprising to see that a large number of the respondents got into basketball because their
friends and family play. We initially believed that most of the respondents play basketball
because they enjoy it, which is still true, or because it’s a good way to exercise. Looking at it a
little further, we noticed that the higher the grade level, the more they prefered to play basketball
for enjoyment instead of playing because they have friends and family who play. We see a
percentage difference that is in a 2­to­1 ratio once they enter grade 9​th​
­10​th​
and 11​th​
­12​th​
.
We also wanted to know respondents future goals with playing basketball. According to
the responses, a significant percentage of the group under 5​th​
grade wanted to have a career in the
WNBA (43.4%). Further, 58.3% of 5​th​
­6​th ​
graders wanted to play at the college level, which was
highest among all grade levels. We also noticed that with the respondents in the higher­grade
level, the goal was to play for fun instead of having a goal to play in college or in the WNBA.
We also looked at the influence of role models in the survey and found that grade 5​th​
&
under showed the highest level of gaining a positive influence from a WNBA team being in the
San Francisco Bay Area. We also noticed that as grade level increases, the impact of positive
influence drops, with thee higher­grade levels not being affected as much compared to the lower
ones.

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Discussion
The purpose of this study was to test the Social Capital Theory in explaining the potential
social impact, specifically experienced by local youth female basketball players, of bringing a
WNBA team to the San Francisco Bay Area. No previous study has evaluated the potential
significance of the WNBA expanding or relocating a team to the Bay Area, and our results
strongly support the Social Capital Theory (SCT). Most, if not all, Social Capital Theorists agree

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that SCT primarily focuses on social relations that result in productive benefits. According to the
SCT, it was expected that one influential group, the WNBA, could inevitably provide another
group, youth female basketball players, with positive opportunities, such as more resources,
positive influences (role models), and motivation to participate in playing basketball. Fueled by
our research, we formulated two hypotheses: (1) ​By attending a WNBA Basketball camp, female
youth will have a positive influence to look up to, ​and​ (2) There is a positive correlation between
female youth attending WNBA basketball camps and wanting to have a future goal to play in the
WNBA.
Hypothesis 1 (H1): By attending a WNBA Basketball camp, female youth will have a
positive influence to look up to.
Considering H1, and evaluating the female youth who indicated they would consider
attending a WNBA basketball camp, 90% of those respondents believe that such exposure to a
WNBA team will provide them with positive role models to which they could find influence and
inspiration. By attending WNBA basketball camps (and socializing with members of the
organization), female youth will have an opportunity to expand their social networks, ultimately
establishing and strengthening their ties within the community. Additionally, female youth
aspiring to be like WNBA players can help the WNBA by not only increasing fan engagement,
but also by feeding its pipeline of competitive female basketball players.
H2: There is a positive correlation between female youth attending WNBA basketball
camps and wanting to have a future goal to play in the WNBA.
Although the WNBA is still limited to 12 teams, it can be presumed that more high­level
participation fueling the pipeline will be seen as a benefit as the league looks to grow moving

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forward. Thirty­one percent of respondents who indicated that they would attend a WNBA
basketball camp also indicated that they play basketball with hopes of making it to the WNBA.
While this number may appear low, contextually it is quite significant because it shows that (a)
the WNBA is on the minds of young female basketball players in the Bay Area, and (b) the more
girls/women that pursue a career in the WNBA will strengthen the league’s potency of high­level
All­Star caliber players—like the NBA.
The results indicate that a WNBA team coming to the Bay Area will be well received and
appreciated by youth female basketball players. When asked about the significance of a WNBA
team coming to the Bay Area, more than 91% of girls under 5​th​
grade indicated that it would be
important, whereas more than 64% of 9​th​
and 10​th​
grade girls said it would be ​moderately
important. These numbers reflected across the board, as the younger the girl, the more excited
she was about the prospects of a WNBA team coming to the area. Further research may consider
examining why this differentiation occurred.
Recommendations
We want to recommend our research to both the WNBA as well as Bay Area youth
organizations such as the PCA (Positive Coaching Alliance) and BAWSI (Bay Area Women’s
Sport Initiative). Our research provides both organizations with positive results in regards to a
the addition of a WNBA team into the Bay Area and the potential impact it would have on
female youth. In a interview with Taylor Lydon of PCA, she stated that “with the kids in this
area all you hear is, ‘I want to be like Steph and Klay’, but it’s rare to hear kids in this
community reference a female role model and bringing a WNBA team to this area could change
that” (personal communication, June 2016). Our data established that participants under the 5th

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grade showed the highest level of gaining a positive influence when bringing a WNBA team to
the area. What that tells us is that if a Bay Area WNBA team was in partnership with these
organizations they could begin to impact these children at their younger stages and it could
transcend throughout their lives. Building a foundation, one in which both these organizations
can benefit, will ultimately benefit the community as a whole when looking at the long term
effects. Another issue that could arise from this proposal is that currently with twelve teams in
the league, adding a Bay Area team would also bring up the concern of having an odd number of
teams, which could potentially spark the discussion about adding another team in addition to the
Bay Area team. Our suggestion would be to test out thirteen teams for a minimum of two seasons
and see if the social impact we estimate is successful in the Bay Area, of which than the WNBA
can look to expand into another region with similar demographics.
The short term actions we suggest include small community events such as meet and
greets, basketball camps hosted by players on the team, community outreach events and so forth
once a WNBA team is brought to the Bay Area. This way the community can begin to relate to
having positive female role models and in turn become active role models for not just female
youth but the youth in the community as a whole.
Conclusion
Through our research we have answered our research question of ​how bringing a WNBA
team to the Bay Area will socially benefit the community as a whole. To answer our research
question, we used a cross­sectional design. We electronically sent out surveys and received 104
survey responses from the following population: youth females who play basketball, live in the
Bay Area, and are between the ages of 7­18. Further, we conducted an interview with a

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representative from the PCA as we feel that local Bay Area organizations could partner with the
WNBA team in terms of community service opportunities. ​The data that we collected from our
surveys and interview and through the test of our hypotheses have shown that bringing a WNBA
team to the Bay Area will positively impact the social development of youth adolescent girls.

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