Sexy women’s sports don’t seem to have staying power

Combining sexy women and sports is an age-old formula for event promoters. But while these sports might attract curiosity-seeking men at first, they don’t appear to have staying power.
Foxy boxing, mud wrestling, Jell-O wrestling and pillow fighting are examples of flash-in-the-pan sexy women’s sports.
What follows is a review of sexy women’s sports that I’ve covered in the past and some new ones.

Legends Football League

Founded in 2009 as the Lingerie Football League, it rebranded last year as the Legends Football League in order to gain some respectability. The women still play in bikini bottoms and sports bras however.
The LFL expanded into Canada in 2012 and Australia in 2013. The league hopes to expand into Europe, Asia and Latin America.
The U.S. LFL is currently in its fifth season. The Chicago Bliss is the reigning champion.
The league has had its ups and downs, with nine defunct teams. But it continues to chug along, providing hope for operators of other sexy women’s sports.

Sugar N Spice Football League

A rival to the LFL is the Sugar N Spice Football League. While the LFL puts the emphasis on attractive women who can also play tackle football, the Sugar N Spice Football League doesn’t have as many model pretty players.
The Sugar N Spice Football League is now in its fourth season, which runs May 24 to Aug. 16.
It currently has eight teams in two states (Texas and Oklahoma): SA Texas Cowgirls (San Antonio), Austin Angels, RGV McAllen Mystics (Rio Grande Valley, McAllen, Texas), Laredo Roses, Corpus Christi Mermaids, Valley Vixens (Harlingen, Texas), El Paso Envy, OKC Rayn (Oklahoma City). The website lists four other teams that aren’t on the 2014 game schedule.

Leather and Lace Football League

The Leather and Lace Football League was a sexy women’s football league that played in 2011 down south. It featured three Mobile, Ala.-based teams: Dauphin Island Dreamz, Mobile Bay Vixens and Grand Bay Ravens.
The players wore sports bras and boy shorts, along with shoulder pads, knee pads, a helmet and cleats, similar to the LFL.
The league’s website is no longer active.

(Related reading: “Despite the name, Leather and Lace Football is no girly game” a June 9, 2011, article by Alabama Media Group.)

Bikini Basketball Association

The Bikini Basketball Association was founded in 2012 and held its inaugural season in 2013 with four teams: Illinois Heart, Miami Spice, Atlanta Storm and Houston Inferno. A second season is currently under way.
The Illinois Heart is the reigning BBA champion.

Lingerie Basketball League

The Lingerie Basketball League held its inaugural season in 2011 with four Los Angeles-based teams. The L.A. Beauties won the first championship.
The LBL conducted a second season in 2012, but there was no championship game. A championship game between the L.A. Divas and L.A. Glam was announced, but never held.
The LBL did not play in 2013 and is currently inactive.
The LBL earned some media coverage during its short life, mostly just a chance for news outlets to run pictures of pretty women. (See MTV Guy Code and SI.com.)

Bikini Basketball League

The Bikini Basketball League was announced in January 2011.
It held tryouts in March 2011. But the league went no further than that.
It did come up with a lot of funny slogans though:

• “Excellence or bust.”
• “Our girls can’t dunk, but they’re fly.”
• “All trunk, no dunk.”
• “No matter the score, it never gets ugly.”
• “All jelly, no jam.”

A website that’s no longer active listed six proposed team names: Texas Hot Sauce, California Wildfire, New York Dimes (dimes is slang for women), Indiana Milkshake (get it?), Florida Honeydrippers and Kentucky Cupcakes.

Bikini Basketball Entertainment

Bikini Basketball Entertainment is a female basketball sports entertainment company based in Canada. It produces basketball games, 3 on 3 basketball tournaments, promotion events and player event appearances.
BBE has been active since 2011 and streams bikini basketball “games” on its website.

Bikini Hockey League

The Bikini Hockey League began in April 2012.
But even with a website and an active Twitter feed, it’s hard to tell how active the league is beyond photo shoots and marketing. Its Facebook page hasn’t been updated since March 2013.
The league scheduled an exhibition game for Jan. 1, 2013, during the NHL lockout. But it doesn’t look like it happened. A Bleacher Report story said the game was tentative based on getting sponsorship agreements.
The league’s Twitter feed posted a photo from a “Bikini Hockey skate” in November 2013. But it didn’t provide any details.

Pole dancing

Pole dancing is a physical activity that some see as sport and others art.
The International Pole Sports Federation considers pole dancing a sport that should be scored like figure skating and gymnastics. It even wants pole sports in the Olympics. It hosts the annual World Pole Sports Championships in London. This year’s competition is scheduled for July 19 and 20.
Others like the U.S. Pole Dance Federation believe pole dancing is more like jazz or ballet.
On March 21, the first ever Pole World News Awards were held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. (See articles by the Huffington Post and the Crescenta Valley Weekly.)
Natasha Wang, pictured, was named best performance artist of the year in the female category.

The best women’s sports from my male perspective are the ones that show off not only great athleticism but the beauty of the female form. In that camp I’d put tennis, beach volleyball, surfing, CrossFit, pole sports and sport climbing.

Photos:
The LFL’s San Diego Seduction huddles at a game in September 2009. (Photo by Ian Clifton);
Steph Davey, a player with the LFL Australia’s Victoria Maidens (Photo by Chris Phutully);
Victoria Maiden player Steph Davey before a game against the Western Australia Angels (Photo by Chris Phutully);
SA Texas Cowgirls players Michele Chavez and Tanya Danache Gutierrez (Facebook photo);
Photo of several SA Texas Cowgirls (Facebook photo);
Houston Inferno player Kyra Carlile of the Bikini Basketball Association;
Illinois Heart player Tikey Hooper of the Bikini Basketball Association;
Lingerie Basketball League player Nicole Hamilton;
Lingerie Basketball League player Julie “The Booty” Ginther of the L.A. Glam;
Two promotional photos for Bikini Basketball Entertainment; 
Two promotional photos for the Bikini Hockey League; 
Champion pole dancer Natasha Wang.