Sunday, February 6, 2011

Out with Lingerie Football, in with Bikini Basketball

The success of the Lingerie Football League has inspired another sexist sporting franchise – the Bikini Basketball League.
The LFL completed its second season tonight with the L.A. Temptation winning its second title in a row.
The 10-team LFL plans to add four expansion teams next season. The Las Vegas Sin, the Green Bay Chill, the Cleveland Crush and an unnamed team from one other city (perhaps Nashville) will bring the number of teams in the league to 14. (Oklahoma City passed on the opportunity to host an LFL team.)
The LFL has a broadcast deal with Viacom’s MTV2 and has gotten exposure from Playboy magazine, “CSI: New York” and news outlets.
Not much is known about the Bikini Basketball League. It has a Twitter account and a placeholder website that announces “Season 1 of the BBL is coming soon.”
The logo is pretty tacky with basketballs replacing breasts in a bikini top and silhouettes of two women in high-heeled shoes. Are these ladies going to play in heels?
The league’s slogan is “Excellence or bust.” My guess is we’d see more “bust” than “excellence,” if this league ever gets off the ground.
The website lists six proposed team names Texas Hot Sauce, California Wildfire, New York Dimes (dimes is slang for women), Indiana Milkshake (classy), Florida Honeydrippers and Kentucky Cupcakes.
With many details still to be filled in, the Bikini Basketball League would be more interesting than the WNBA.
The question is: Will it have more staying power than foxy boxing or mud wrestling in the history of women’s sports?
Perhaps they could get Jennifer Love Hewitt as a spokeswoman. She apparently likes playing bikini basketball.


Update: There's also a Lingerie Basketball League trying to get started with two teams in Los Angeles - the LA Starlets and LA Divas. (Feb. 10, 2011)

Photos:
Bikini Basketball League logo;
Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt photographed playing bikini basketball in Hawaii in August 2009 (See New York Daily News and U.K. Daily Mail)

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