The Jambar
With the arrival of multiple superstars on the scene of women’s basketball in 2024-25, the Women’s National Basketball Association had one thing to say — “We got next.”
The NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of a WNBA on April 24, 1996, to begin play in June 1997.
This year, some easily recognizable names are changing the narrative for the entire association.
Caitlin Clark, former guard for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, was arguably one of the greatest collegiate athletes of all time.
Along with leading her Hawkeyes squad to back-to-back NCAA National Championship appearances, she also finished her career at Iowa with the most points in college basketball history.
Other notable women’s college basketball phenoms were forwards Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso from the Chicago Sky, forward Cameron Brink of the Los Angeles Sparks and guard Kate Martin of the Las Vegas Aces.
From 2011-2023, the WNBA Draft garnered over 300,000 views per year. Comparatively, the NBA Draft averaged around three million views.
This year, the WNBA draft had 2.4 million viewers — the previous all-time viewership was 601,000 in 2004.
Clark was drafted No. 1 overall and her post-draft analysis by ESPN showed how much impact she had on the sports world.
“Clark’s arrival will change the perception and trajectory of the [Indiana] Fever franchise,” ESPN stated.
They were correct, as Clark has had the greatest rookie season in WNBA history, finishing in the top 20 in points, rebounds, steals and leading the league in both three-pointers made and assists per game.
With Clark and other stars now in the WNBA, the exposure for women’s sports is only up from here.
This year, was the most-viewed WNBA regular season ever across ESPN platforms, with an average of 1.1 million viewers — a 170% increase from last season.
Networks such as ESPN, CBS Sports and ION all had record-breaking years in viewership, with over 100% increases.
It wasn’t just TV viewers watching the WNBA this season. Attendance records were set for many teams — especially the Fever.
In 2023, the average for the entire league was 6,614 attendees per game, with the Aces being the highest of the 12 teams at 9,551.
For the 2024 season, the WNBA average attendance was 9,806, higher than the Aces league-leading attendance from the previous year.
As for Clark and the Fever, they lead the league in average attendance by over 4,000 fans per game. The Fever had 17,035 fans attend games on average.
David Broughton, reporter for the Sports Business Journal, said the WNBA had to move to nearby NBA arenas seven times because of the amount of tickets being sold.
“The WNBA drew a record 2.3 million regular-season fans this year, as they flocked to see rookie Caitlin Clark and others in the next generation of the league,” Broughton said. “Seven games were moved to nearby NBA arenas to help accommodate the surge in ticket demand.”
Not only are there multiple WNBA stars in the league currently, but there are countless up-and-coming athletes in the NCAA waiting for their shot.
Women’s basketball for years to come will be in great hands and continue to rise the ranks of viewership and attendance.
