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PARIS — Most of the seats in the lower bowl of the Bercy Arena, the seats behind the players’ benches, are managed by the International Olympic Committee.
They are marked and cordoned off, and are used by government officials, dignitaries, celebrities, business associates and who knows who else… but you have to be someone with influence or know someone with influence to sit there.
They were largely empty — row after row — for the Nigeria-United States women’s basketball quarterfinal on Wednesday. The U.S. plays Australia on Friday.
Most of the seats on the other side, at both ends of the field and in the corners, the seats that stretch 40 or more rows deep, all the way to the roof of this 15,000-seat arena, are sold to the general public.
They were almost completely full, row after row of fans.
They were consistently loud, excited and engaged, even as Team USA, rather predictably, rolled to an easy 88-74 victory. It was the Americans’ 59th consecutive Olympic victory as they chased an eighth straight gold medal.
It was never expected to be much more than a showcase of American dominance, yet the crowd was telling, even supportive.
American fans cheered the good play of the Nigerians, an encouragement for the general development of the game, or perhaps they hoped that the match would remain exciting for as long as possible. (The difference was six points until halfway through the second quarter.)
What the disparity of mostly empty “official” sections and completely filled “public” sections means for women’s basketball is up for debate. It’s probably a couple of things.
What is undeniable is that this was a strange environment and looked terrible on television. If you only saw the main camera footage, you would think that almost no one was watching the game.
It was the other way around. The rest of the place was packed.
Also mostly empty? The press tribunals. There is a decent American media group, but this was nothing like the full-chair scene of Tuesday night’s men’s quarterfinals. The global press has apparently not yet figured out that women’s basketball is.
There was a lot of talk in the United States before the Olympics that the team should add Indiana Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark to boost interest in the team. Perhaps she did, especially for the home television ratings.
But judging by the clapping, stomping and chanting from the sold-out stadiums, there are plenty of very interested and passionate fans of the women’s basketball team who are more than happy to witness the brilliant performances of A’ja Wilson (20 points), Breanna Stewart (13 points) and Jackie Young (15 points), let alone a team that has a great defense on one end of the court and 31 assists and 34 baskets on the other.
Watching the U.S. women’s national team is like watching one of those videos where they use explosives to topple an abandoned skyscraper. You know the outcome, but you tune in anyway to marvel at the power that gets you there.
And many fans wanted to see it in real life. It is a high level ball.
We are probably a generation or more away from women’s basketball becoming a competitive event at the Olympics. That’s a shame. You see the talent in the Nigerian team and you realize that with continued investment in development programs, a lot of countries can produce strong teams like they do with the men.
Can this happen without the important and connected people who have access to the IOC-controlled parts of this stadium?
Probably not.
If the IOC isn’t going to use their tickets (like entire sections of their tickets), then they should at least put them on the market so fans can use them too.
The women’s basketball team put on a good show on Wednesday.
It seems the wrong people missed it.
