One reason would be that there is no demand for XFL players in authoritarian countries. WNBA players can make 10x the money they make here by going to authoritarian countries. That's a security risk. Also, men aren't at risk to be victimized overseas the way women are. The NBA specifically should be doing a better job of helping their creation with marketing, etc. But there is incentive for the government to apply some leverage as well.
Couldn't you say that since more then half the WNBA teams draw less then 6K people to their home games there is not much demand for the game here? The league has been marketed and pushed and after 26 years there just isn't a demand for it. No one is making them go over seas. There are plenty of other jobs, just like no one is making the XFL players play for much less. This is their choice. They know what the risks are. No amount of marketing is going to increase the demand here. So tell me about Marc Fogel. US Teacher in Russia prison for a half ounce marijuana. Sentenced to 14 years in Prison. Longer sentence then Griner, but no uproar. Here is a male teacher who has it even worse , but tell me again how he is not being victimized here and abroad. Explain to me how he didn't deserve to be the one swapped instead of Griner? He was in prison longer, no uproar for him though.
SHHHHHHH .... that will just fly in the face of the strawman argument that loves to be thrown around here
Of course you could say that. It's very obviously a factual statement. The league hasn't been marketed or pushed very well at all. Correct. And the US found ourselves in a poor negotiating position as a result of those incentives leading her and many others to make that choice. This is almost certainly untrue. He's a man. If I were in his position (and in my right mind) I would request that she be let go.
Isn't this a women and children first thing? 1 woman, 2 men, shouldn't the woman have been rescued first?
Not if A: the men are white B: the woman is a POC and potentially homosexual and C: it somehow can make Joe Biden look bad.
This supports my belief that massive publicity campaigns do not help when you are dealing with russia. There was never any publicity at all around this guy and he was released without an exchange. "Russia has released U.S. Navy veteran Taylor Dudley, who had been held in the country's Kaliningrad exclave for nine months, negotiator Bill Richardson announced. 'It is significant that despite the current environment between our two countries, the Russian authorities did the right thing by releasing Taylor today,' Richardson said in a statement on January 12. The release came one month after the high-profile swap of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who the United States said had been wrongfully imprisoned. Dudley's detention had not been publicized and Washington did not say he was wrongfully detained."
