May 14, 2024

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A landmark WNBA season begins Tuesday night as pro basketball looks to ride the wave of momentum around women’s sports. … Caitlin Clark is making her debut, and other stars have the chance to win big, too. … With record attendance likely on the way, another first for the W is emerging: a true secondary ticket marketplace. … And Front Office Sports Today dives into the drama we can expect both on and off the court.

— David Rumsey [[link removed]] and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

Rising Star Power and Expansion: The WNBA’s Time to Shine Is Finally Here [[link removed]]

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The most-anticipated WNBA season in the league’s 27-year existence begins Tuesday night with four matchups across the country, highlighted by the regular-season debut of former Iowa sensation Caitlin Clark (above) as the Indiana Fever visit the Connecticut Sun at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Mainstream interest in Clark is putting an even bigger spotlight on the WNBA as it continues to grow and capitalize on the overall momentum of women’s sports.

Since last fall’s WNBA Finals, which saw the Las Vegas Aces win their second-straight title, the league has taken significant steps and experienced some profound changes.

Charter flights: This month, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced [[link removed]] the league would launch a full-time charter program as soon as possible, at an estimated cost of $25 million annually over the next two years. Expansion: An ownership group in Toronto appears [[link removed]] set to soon be awarded the WNBA’s 14th team, to enter the league in 2026. Next season, a Bay Area franchise will become the 13th club. Engelbert has said [[link removed]] she would like to see the WNBA expand to as many as 16 franchises this decade. For context, that’s still about half the amount of teams as their male counterparts in other pro leagues, including the NFL (32), NHL (32), MLB (30), NBA (30), and MLS (29). The NWSL currently has 14 teams. Viewership: Last month, ESPN’s coverage of the draft averaged [[link removed]] 2.45 million viewers—the largest TV audience for any WNBA telecast since 2000. Meanwhile, demand [[link removed]] for more broadcasts of preseason games has taken the league by surprise and led to some highly viewed illegal game streams [[link removed]]. Star power: After being selected with the No. 1 pick, the rush for Clark’s Fever jersey set off a firestorm [[link removed]]. At NBA All-Star weekend, New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu put on a show while battling Golden State Warriors phenom Steph Curry in a three-point contest [[link removed]]. Next Up: New Media-Rights Deals

The WNBA’s current broadcast partners are Amazon, CBS Sports, Disney, and Scripps Sports. Amazon and CBS recently extended their deals, and Disney is in negotiations with its deal expiring in 2025. Engelbert has said the WNBA’s goal is to double [[link removed]] its rights fee intake, which currently stands at roughly $60 million annually. Disney’s current deal is tied to its NBA contract, and a new deal with both leagues could have a similar structure.

Meanwhile, the Fever are becoming [[link removed]] the WNBA’s media darlings, as more teams begin to truly capitalize [[link removed]] on the power of their local broadcast rights.

The Caitlin Clark Effect Has Hit the WNBA: Will Its Stars Capitalize? [[link removed]]

Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

Caitlin Clark hasn’t even played her first regular-season game in the WNBA, but the Indiana Fever rookie has already had a huge impact on the league. There have been sellouts, teams moving [[link removed]] their games against Clark to bigger arenas, and a drastic increase [[link removed]] in broadcast coverage for Indiana both nationally and locally.

It doesn’t look like Clark’s effect will slow down anytime this season, at least. She’s the favorite to win Rookie of the Year by a mile, has the third-best WNBA MVP betting odds behind A’ja Wilson (above) and Breanna Stewart, and has the Fever as a top-five team to win the championship, according to most sportsbooks. That alone is notable because Indiana finished with a 13–27 mark in 2023—last place in the Eastern Conference—but still with more wins than the previous two seasons combined (5–31 in ’21 and 6–26 in ’22).

But what about the rest of the league? Clark’s ability to generate interest in Indiana, cities she visits on the road, and national TV broadcasts (if her draw from college carries over, which it appears to be doing) is a great thing for the WNBA. But there are 11 other teams in the league, and two more in San Francisco and Toronto on the way. To be sustainable, the WNBA will need to extend the Caitlin Clark effect to its other biggest stars, too.

Spreading the Love

Alongside Clark getting a reported $28 million endorsement deal [[link removed]] with Nike that includes a signature shoe, Wilson—a two-time WNBA MVP and center for the defending champion Las Vegas Aces—has announced a similar sneaker deal, although terms are unknown. Clark and Wilson will join New York Liberty stars Sabrina Ionescu and Stewart as the only WNBA players with signature shoe deals. Ten other WNBA players have had signature shoes previously.

With that core of marketable stars in place, this WNBA will be a strong indicator of whether the league can quickly create more household names, particularly among rookies who are fresh in the minds of women’s March Madness viewers. No. 2 pick Cameron Brink will get to bask in the Los Angeles limelight with the Sparks, while Nos. 3 and 7 picks Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese look to help rebuild the Chicago Sky.

There should be some early results to check in on: Over the next seven days, Clark and the Fever will play games on ESPN2, Amazon Prime Video, ABC, and ESPN. There will also be six games not featuring Clark broadcast on cable or network TV channels. It won’t surprise anyone if fans are tuning in to the early days of Clark in Indiana, but the speed at which the league’s other stars gain notoriety will go a long way in determining the league’s continued growth and success.

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The WNBA’s Ticket Market Is Booming, but Challenges Loom [[link removed]]

Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports

One of the most overt and dramatic signs of the meteoric growth of the WNBA is not the sky-high pricing for games involving the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, but the rapid maturation of the entire secondary ticket market for the league.

Ever since the Fever won the WNBA lottery and were set to select Clark with the league’s top draft pick, prices for the team’s games, both home and away, have soared [[link removed]] in cost [[link removed]], sometimes into the thousands of dollars per ticket. But those headlines can obscure an even bigger reality: The popularity of the league is such that sellouts are now going to become a more regular occurrence, and with that heightened demand, resale of WNBA tickets is yet another way that the league is now going to more closely mirror older, more established leagues in men’s major pro sports.

“This does feel a bit like when the secondary market first really emerged for the NBA,” Patrick Ryan, cofounder of Texas-based ticket intelligence company Eventellect, tells Front Office Sports. “This also presents a big opportunity for teams to retarget fans to also consider other games that don’t involve Clark.”

Specific signs of the heightened demand include the Las Vegas Aces [[link removed]] selling out their entire allotment of season tickets, the Dallas Wings and Atlanta Dream [[link removed]] doing the same, and the Connecticut Sun announcing [[link removed]] Monday their first opening-night sellout since 2003—thanks in no small part to the arrival of Clark and the Fever as the away team. Several individual games this season also have already shifted into larger venues due to the unprecedented demand.

Some of this isn’t surprising, as even some recent WNBA preseason games have drawn record-level crowds [[link removed]]. But as those attendance records are all but certain to extend into the regular season, the ticket economy existing around that interest is also expanding in real time.

The maturation of the WNBA ticket market, however, won’t entirely be a straight line. Some Fever tickets in the upper deck of Gainbridge Fieldhouse can be had for as little as $2 [[link removed]] each, as the team opened up the entire building for games this season—creating a big chunk of extra seating inventory that isn’t always coveted.

Meanwhile, industry sources said there are still some pockets of market softness in the WNBA premium ticket market, with that segment likely to take longer to fully develop.

ONE BIG FIG All the Way Up

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

93%

Percentage that ticket sales are up across the league, compared to last season. WNBA chief growth officer Colie Edison told the Minneapolis Star Tribune [[link removed]] that every team is on track for record attendance this year. Las Vegas became the first [[link removed]] WNBA team to sell out of season tickets this offseason, and several teams have moved [[link removed]] their home games against the Fever to larger arenas to accommodate more fans looking to watch Caitlin Clark in person.

TRIVIA

Consider yourself a WNBA expert? Put your league knowledge to the test with today’s Factle Sports [[link removed]] trivia game.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY What to Expect From This Highly Anticipated WNBA Season

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The WNBA season tips off tonight and there is no shortage of dramatic storylines, big news, and league-altering developments swirling. And we’re not just talking about Caitlin Clark’s debut. Angel Reese (above, left), Cameron Brink, and Kamilla Cardoso, among others, are also now in the WNBA. Charter flights, meanwhile, are on the horizon, a new media-rights deal will soon be negotiated, and the Olympics are coming. Ben Pickman of The Athletic joins the show today to break all this down.

🎧 Watch, listen, and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters Caitlin Clark couldn’t attend her Iowa graduation because she was getting ready for the WNBA season. To make up for it, her Indiana Fever teammates surprised her with a “Certificate of Graduation” before training camp. Watch here [[link removed]]. Therese Andrews, head of production at Omaha Productions, told Front Office Sports Today [[link removed]] that the company typically has 8–12 active projects in progress. And their latest docuseries, Full Court Press, premiered this past weekend. With the WNBA’s new league-wide charter flight program underway, check out [[link removed]] the Fever’s first trip of the season. Editors’ Picks ‘Perfect Storm’: The Rise of Local WNBA Broadcast Pacts [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]With national attention reaching new heights, regional coverage could dictate the future. Toronto Set to Be WNBA’s 14th Franchise, First Outside U.S. [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The league commissioner had previously named Toronto as a possible expansion city. Angel Reese’s WNBA Preseason Debut Racks Up Millions of Views on Phone Stream [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The WNBA mistakenly said the game was available on League Pass. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by David Rumsey [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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