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Global Sport Business Journal

Global Sport Business Journal

Abstract

Formed in 1996, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) did not have a profitable team until 2011. By the end of 2013, however, 50% of WNBA teams turned a profit. In an effort to better understand how WNBA organizations are moving toward the trend of profitability, this study employed the excellence theory of public relations to examine how WNBA organizations are utilizing Twitter both during the season and off-season, and examined if there was a difference in Twitter usage between profitable and non-profitable teams. Using the codes provided by previous studies on social media engagement, results indicated that In-Game Information and Interactivity were the most frequent themes utilized by organizations during the season and off-season, respectively, and profitable teams were tweeting less than non-profitable teams. Findings suggest that organizations should update their followers with in-game and organizational information to foster relationships with fans.

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