WNBA attendance is off to a great start in the 2024 season. The league has never had TV ratings or game attendance as high as it is right now. The leader of this charge has no doubt been Caitlin Clark and the 2024 rookie class.
In Friday night’s matchup between the Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics, there was a paid attendance of 20, 333! For reference on how this compares to other basketball games, NBA Finals Game 1 in Boston the night before drew 19,1 565 people.
What makes this even more impressive for the WNBA is that the records of the Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics were 2-9 and 0-10 going into this game. Two of the worst teams in the league had more fans in the stands than an NBA finals game. The WNBA is more popular right now than it ever has been.
Can they keep this momentum going?
The Caitlin Clark Effect
There’s no doubt that the driving force of this WNBA surge is Caitlin Clark. Clark has attracted a lot of eyeballs since she started to blossom into a star in college at Iowa. Since getting drafted into the WNBA in April, all of this attention Clark garnered followed her right to the pros.
There are a lot of people out there who never followed the WNBA previously but are now tuning in because of Clark. Ticket prices and demand for the Indiana Fever have skyrocketed. Every arena they play in is packed and nearly every game is on national television. This is the definition of being box office.
It’s not just Clark that getting the attention either. Rookie stars like Cameron Brink and Angel Reese have also been getting a lot of it, proving that the WNBA is growing as a whole. The league is in a great spot right now.
WNBA Attendance
WNBA attendance has been way up across the league all season. The most attended game so far this season was the matchup between the Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics on Friday night.
The Mystics have still yet to pick up a win this season and play most of their games in a 4,000 seat arena. For Friday’s game against the Fever, they decided to play in the Washington Wizards 20,000+ seat arena. This was clearly in anticipation of an excess number of fans wanting to see Clark.
The Mystics made the right call. It was a full house to see the Fever play the Mystics. It would be hard to find a game this past year where the Washington Wizards got that many people to go to a game in their own arena.
WNBA On The Rise
The WNBA is more popular right now than ever. The big question now is will this stick throughout the whole season and the years to come. Is it just a blip on the radar or is this going to be a league that will consistently have a large audience?
I believe the league is set up for success in the future. Currently, there are very marketable players that just entered the league and it will be the same story with next year’s draft class. When there are marketable stars, more people are interested. Women’s basketball has been promoting its stars very well.
In addition to this, there are 2 expansion teams set to hit new markets in the next two years. Next year, there will be a San Francisco-based team called the Golden State Valkyries, Being located in the Bay Area, a lot of people are very excited to have a team. In 2026, Toronto will also have an expansion team. The WNBA attendance, TV ratings, and growth are set to continue on an upward trend.
About the Author
Cory is an Oregon Duck alumni from the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been playing, watching, and following basketball + baseball his whole life. Follow Cory on X @cory_pappas1 for more breaking stories and game previews.
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