The WNBA announced that the 2024 season has opened with the highest attendance in 26 years.
The WNBA’s unprecedented growth continues as the league, which just tipped off its 28th season on May 14th, finished May with its highest attended opening month in 26 years and its most-watched start of season across each network ever: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, ION and NBA TV.
WNBA league office
This week saw the Washington Mystics host two games at Capital One Arena. Their game on June 6 against the Sky drew 10,000. Their game on June 7 set a league record for the highest attendance for a regular season game since 1999 with 20,333. Five teams are hosting games outside of their regular home arena this season. The Sparks hosted two games at The Pyramid at Long Beach State. Upcoming games will have the Dream at State Farm Arena on June 21 & August 26.
The Las Vegas Aces will host their July 2 and September 3 games at T-Mobile Arena. Additionally, the Mystics will also hold their July 16 game at Capital One Arena. Finally, the Connecticut Sun will host their August 20 game at TD Garden Arena in Boston, MA.
Approximately 400,000 fans attended WNBA games since the tip of the season through the end of May, the most through the first month of the season in 26 years. More than half of all WNBA games were sellouts, which is a 156% increase from last year.
Additionally, WNBA arenas were filled to a 94% capacity, up 17% from last year.
WNBA league office
The Mystics had the largest attendance for the week with their June 7 game against Indiana (20,333). Meanwhile, the Dream once again had the lowest attendance for the week on June 6 against the Liberty (3,255).
After one month, ten teams have increased their attendance from 2023. Meanwhile, only two teams remain below their 2023 final average (Minnesota and Phoenix). The Indiana Fever has seen the largest increase from last season with a 307 percent increase. Overall, the league’s average attendance is up 39.6 percent from their final average from 2023. The Fever also lead the league in away game attendance at 16,032.
Below is the graphic comparing to the 2023 season’s final averages. The reported capacity numbers for each arena are based on the team’s arena being fully open. Capacity numbers are provided by each team’s individual arena’s website. Also reported are each team’s individual high and low games for the season. Finally, all attendance numbers are provided through Acrossthetimeline.com.
Attendance Report
The Week Ahead
The upcoming week will see 15 games being played. The featured match-up for the week will be the first-place New York Liberty taking on the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday, June 15 (3:00 pm on ABC). This weekend will also see two games on CBS. Saturday, June 15 will have the Sun at the Wings (1:00 pm), and Sunday, June 16 will feature the Sky at the Fever (noon).
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