Val Ackerman, president of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) spoke to an audience of 80 at Harvard Business School yesterday about the challenges of building a woman’s professional sports league.

Since the mid-1970s she said there have been 12 attempts to start a women’s basketball association.

Ackerman said the current success of the WNBA reveals much about the changing perceptions of women in society.

“Ten years ago, America was not ready,” Ackerman said. “It’s been something of an odyssey.”

Ackerman discussed the WNBA’s marketing strategy intended to portray the players as self-confident and authoritative.

“This is representative of what women are,” she said. “This is what fans gravitate to.”

Ackerman said women make up 80 percent of ticket sales and tend to be drawn to the personalities of the players rather than their basketball acumen.

She gave the example of Lisa Leslie, a center on the Los Angeles Sparks, who has appeared on television to discuss her family life, political positions and shopping habits.

The players return this personal interest, Ackerman said, by promoting women’s issues, including breast cancer awareness programs.

Audience members said they were impressed by the efforts of the WNBA to become a presence in American sports culture.

“The WNBA plays 10 times harder than the NBA,” said Business School student Andwele Lewis ’98.