There’s a chance that the 2024 WNBA season will have more average attendance than any of the previous three.
With the highest ratings for the regular season in twenty-one years, the Finals in twenty years, and the All-Star Game in sixteen, the 2023 WNBA season broke all previous records for TV viewership.
Nevertheless, from 1997 to 2019, the average attendance per game was lower than it has ever been in a league season. Like TV ratings, attendance peaked in the league’s first three seasons (1997, 1998, and 1999), and then steadily declined in the ensuing ten years.
In contrast, attendance at the NWSL, which is currently in its 12th season, has steadily climbed over time.
The WNBA began play in 1996, riding the wave of excitement from the Olympics, and its first season was helped along by extensive marketing. 1999 WNBA All-Star Rebecca Lobo stated, “That first season was very anticipated.” The public was curious to see what a professional women’s basketball player looked like. How would a league supported by the league and David Stern look like?
The WNBA announced its debut date of June 21, 1997, with the catchphrase “We Got Next” in an iconic advertising campaign. “In 1997, there would always be a commercial when you turned on an NBA or playoff game,” Lobo remarked. “Very, very strong promotion for that WNBA season.”
There has never been a WNBA game that attracted more viewers than the New York Liberty vs. Los Angeles Sparks on NBC in its inaugural season.
Over the course of the W’s first 25 seasons, attendance has steadily decreased for two reasons: waning enthusiasm and the loss of novelty value. However, the venues themselves have had an impact on the figures.
For example, the Atlanta Dream and the Atlanta Hawks shared Philips Arena until the latter moved to the Gateway Center Arena in College Park due to management disputes. The new location, which can accommodate fewer than 3,500 people, is about 10 miles from Atlanta’s downtown.
According to Across the Timeline, The Dream sold out most of their home games throughout the previous season. “People are waiting in line, and there is demand, but they are unable to enter,” LaChina Robinson, an ESPN basketball commentator, stated.
A few of the relocated franchises also shrunk their original arenas. The BOK Center, which can hold more than 17,000 people, is far larger than the College Park Center, where the Dallas Wings played from 2010 to 2015 when they were the Tulsa Shock. The Wings intend to relocate to Dallas’ central area soon.
After 21 seasons in Madison Square Garden, the New York Liberty moved to White Plains, New York for the 2018 and 2019 season because MSG had revealed plans to sell the franchise. Over the years, other teams have made temporary moves for a variety of reasons, such as NBA arena renovations.
All in all, the Compaq Center, home of the Houston Comets and holding about 17,000 fans, was the smallest arena among the eight WNBA clubs in 1997. Six of the twelve teams’ home games in 2023 were held in locations with fewer than 15,000 seats.
Teams are tackling the capacity issue this coming season in direct response to the excitement surrounding Caitlin Clark, the first overall draft pick. The 18,000-seat T-Mobile Arena will host the Aces’ game against the Indiana Fever on May 25. On June 7, the Washington Mystics will host Indiana in the Capital One Arena, which can accommodate over 20,000 people.
This season, the Mystics will host two more games at Capital One—on June 6th against the Chicago Sky and on July 16th against the Phoenix Mercury—at the arena that houses the NHL’s Washington Capitals and the NBA’s Washington Wizards.
People will arrive if you construct it. The WNBA champion Aces drew 17,406 spectators to their final regular season game at T-Mobile Arena, which is home to the team’s 12,000-seat Michelob Ultra Arena.
With Clark, Angel Reese, and Kamilla Cardoso among the most talented rookie class in WNBA history, the league has a chance to capitalize on the growing interest in women’s collegiate basketball and improve its attendance trend. After just 10 games, all of which took place between 1997 and 2000, the WNBA Draft in April attracted the 11th biggest WNBA TV audience ever.
“I think we’ve reached a point where the advancement is comparable to what it was during those initial days,” Lobo remarked. “There was an ESPN advertisement for the WNBA season encouraging viewers to tune in to watch the Indiana Fever at the Connecticut Sun on the scorer’s table during the Celtics game the other night.
“If ticket sales this season don’t approach the levels we saw in the league’s early years, I will be shocked.”
