I didn't reply to that point earlier just because I think it's fair to criticize 2K for things on the NBA side as well.
Apologies for the vagueness (I wasn't so specific since my intent was just to point back to what I had argued earlier in more detail), but the "zero-risk" "painless" "zero-additional-resource-requiring" promotion I was alluding to there was more the inclusion of WNBA players in MyTeam (i.e., what I've mainly been talking about in this thread), my point being that—since the real-life NBA players in MyTeam are just glorified NBA Jam-esque avatars, and since plenty of these avatars are actually LESS known than star WNBA players—2K has nothing to lose by bringing the WNBA into that space. There's really only upside, as the presence of WNBA players in MyTeam will make them more familiar to gamers and encourage more engagement with other WNBA-related modes and content. Making MyPlayers fully 'co-ed' would naturally go along with this development too.
To me the social media stuff makes more sense in conjunction with these changes to the actual game. If you've got some sort of Steph x Sabrina Shootout event / card pack / challenge, then it makes for a natural tie-in to the WNBA (and NBA, for that matter) 3-Point Contest, for instance, when that rolls around. I'm well aware of the realities of social media work, but in my comments about that, I was suggesting more a change in the balance / character of what they're posting (at least during the WNBA season) rather than literally adding a stream of WNBA-related posts to their existing social media flow. In that scenario, I do think you have a point with this:
...but I think that point is valid only really if we're discussing social media promotions alone without any sort of changes to the actual game that would bring the WNBA into the game's most popular modes. If WNBA promotion on social media is really functioning as promotion for useful in-game products in marquee modes, then I think a competent social media person / team should be able to leverage that into engaging social media content.
Ultimately, I think we just fundamentally disagree about the potential of the WNBA to be an attractive part of the game. None of what I'm saying is motivated by a sense of "2K should do it because it's the
right thing to do!" No 'feelings over facts' on this end (to reply to one user above). I don't even follow the WNBA myself, but in recent years I've found myself becoming unwittingly more and more aware of the league via more trending content on social media and seemingly more embracement from NBA players. It just seems like it's becoming more of a 'thing'.
So, with that in mind, when I see this not-insignificant WNBA portion of the game on the one hand, and a bunch of essentially anonymous / zero-cachet 'avatars' in MyTeam on the other, it just feels like a wasted opportunity to make the WNBA feel less like dead weight in 2K. I'm not criticizing 2K for failing to stand up for women; I'm criticizing them for failing to get as much as they could out of their product. I don't buy that—for all of our complaining about goofy ratings, broken stuff in franchise mode, etc.—2K is some perfect, well-oiled machine when it comes to the cash-cow aspects of the game. I think they can be short-sighted and inefficient there too, and that this is one area where they're behind the curve. (FWIW I think they and others* will follow EA FC's lead before too long.)
EDIT: *Again, where a female equivalent is even available to work with (so maybe FIFA, PGA, etc.?). Not sure what all other non-combat sports game franchises are out there that have popular fantasy-style modes as well as whose sports have a real-life professional equivalent for women.