WNBA teams shattered attendance records in 2023, but 2024 number may dwarf that. Several of the league’s teams are preparing to feel the fever this summer.
Banking on the explosion of popularity for women’s basketball based on this past NCAA season — and one player in particular — WNBA clubs are on high alert for bumper crowds this coming season.
Two teams even announced they are moving — in a good way. Both the Washington Mystics and Las Vegas Aces are moving their home games against the Indiana Fever to larger venues.
The reason? Caitlinmania. Caitlin Clark, the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, was gratefully selected by the Fever with the No. 1 overall pick of Monday’s WNBA Draft.
WNBA Teams Ready to Make Bank on Clark
The WNBA brought in a total of 1,587,488 fans among its 12 teams, the highest in 13 years. However, the league was larger back then — as it may again be soon. WNBA attendance was up 16 percent over 2022, but it is likely that the league ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
Teams from around the league are jacking up their normal ticket prices for when Clark and the Fever come to town. Single-game tickets that normally can be purchased for a few sawbucks through the box office are now going for several times the usual price if they are still available.
On the secondary market, tickets to catch a glimpse of Clark are already fetching hundreds of dollars for games that are sometimes weeks or even months away.
WNBA Squads are Moving on Account of Clark
The Indiana Fever averaged 4,067 fans last season in the 18,000-seat Gainbridge Fieldhouse. There are certain to be far fewer open seats in the arena this year. Seats in the lower bowl for the Fever’s home opener vs. the New York Liberty are nearly sold out, with spots in the previously unused upper deck going fast.
Earlier this week, the defending WNBA champion Aces announced that their July 2 home game against the Fever will move from Las Vegas’ 12,000-seat standard residence at Michelob Ultra Arena to the 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena — where the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights play. The Aces led the WNBA in attendance last season with an average of 9,551.
On Thursday, the Mystics followed suit. Washington, which averaged just 4,391 fans last year — just 250 more per game than the Fever — also announced a relocation. The Mystics were initially slated to play the game at the 4,200-seat Entertainment & Sports Arena, but will now host Indiana in a 20,000-seat Capital One Arena that hosts the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals.
Other WNBA Teams May Still Make the Move
There are five WNBA teams that already play in their market’s NBA arena. The Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, and Phoenix Mercury. The Seattle Storm play in Climate Pledge Arena, which has a capacity of 18,300 for the NHL‘s Seattle Kraken.
In Minnesota, a traditionally strong-drawing market for the league, tickets to the Fever game are already available only to season ticket holders.
With Washington and Las Vegas moving their games already, that leaves just the Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, and Connecticut Sun still playing in their traditional, smaller homes. Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas all have NBA arenas located in their market.
The Sun have a different situation. The team plays at the 9,323-seat Mohegan Sun Arena on the estate of a casino complex. The closest NBA/NHL-size facility is the 16,284-seat XL Center in Hartford, Conn., 45 minutes away. But, for a Clark-sized crowd, the move just may be worthwhile.
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Tom Carothers is a sportswriter with more than 20 years of experience covering sports at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Still longing for the return of his Minnesota North Stars, he has a high pain tolerance as a big fan of the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Browns, and Tottenham Hotspur.
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