A Banner Year for Attendance in the WNBA

Caitlin Clark (R), Allisha Gray (C), and Aliyah Boston (L) of Team WNBA, celebrate a made 3-point basket by a teammate against Team USA during the second half of a WNBA All-Star basketball game in Phoenix on July 20, 2024. Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo

Fan interest in the WNBA is at an all-time high.

The league drew 2.4 million fans over this past regular season—the highest attendance in 22 years—and an increase of 48 percent from last year, according to the latest figures released by the league. The WNBA also managed 154 sellouts, a 242 percent increase from 45 last year.

The emergence of Indiana Fever Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark helped drive a lot of these increases. This past season, the Fever set a WNBA attendance record with more than 500,000 fans at road and home games with Clark as starting point guard.

The matchup between Indiana and the Mystics at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., drew 20,711 fans—the most for a single game in WNBA history—on Sept. 19. Clark and the Fever had three games with at least 20,000 fans this season in Las Vegas on July 2 and again in Washington on June 7.

Clark also has a budding rivalry with Chicago Sky forward and fellow rookie Angel Reese. The two began their battles when Clark was a college player at Iowa and Reese transferred from Maryland to LSU in 2022.

The two young stars first attracted national attention when Reese taunted Clark with a “you can’t see me” gesture and tapped her ring finger when LSU beat Iowa in the 2023 National Championship game. The “you can’t see me” gesture was popularized by WWE star John Cena to show opponents that he was too fast or elusive for them to see him coming. The pointing to her ring finger was supposed to symbolize the championship rings she and her teammates would soon receive for the title.

Clark avenged that loss when Iowa beat LSU 94–87 in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament on April 1. The Hawkeyes lost to South Carolina in the national championship game, which capped a perfect 38–0 season for the Gamecocks.

The rivalry between Clark and Reese has continued with their careers in the WNBA with more controversy. On June 16, Reese was called for a flagrant foul after hitting Clark on the head, which caused a stir on social media about the intent of the foul. In addition, the Fever’s 91–83 victory averaged 2.25 million viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA game on any network since 2001, according to CBS Sports.

Overall, the TV ratings for the WNBA also reached record levels, attracting an all-time high of more than 54 million unique viewers across ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ION, and NBA TV platforms.

The Fever and Sun playoff matchup on Sept. 22 was the most viewed postseason game ever across all ESPN platforms with 2.2 million viewers. Clark and the Fever’s game against the visiting Seattle Storm drew 2.2 million viewers—the most-watched WNBA game on ABC—on Aug. 18.

In addition to attendance and viewership, sales for the league’s merchandise at WNBAStore.com and the New York City brick-and-mortar store rose by a combined 601 percent from 2023. Sales at national retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods increased by 233 percent compared to last season, the league announced.