WNBA: Regular season attendance up 48 percent

Field Level Media|published: Fri 27th September, 15:27 2024

New York Liberty mascot Ellie the Elephant takes a photo with fan Sheena O during the WNBA All-Star Game Skills Challenge at Footprint Center in Phoenix on Friday, July 19, 2024.

WNBA regular-season attendance was up 48 percent over the 2023 season, the league announced Friday.

The WNBA averaged 9,807 fans per game in 2024, a hefty increase from last season's 6,615 per game.

The league said 2,353,735 fans attended WNBA games, the most in 22 years.

WNBA teams combined for 154 sellouts this season after having just 45 in 2023.

Three games drew more than 20,000 fans, including a single-season record 20,711 when the Caitlin Clark-led Indiana Fever visited the Washington Mystics on Sept. 19. The other two also involved the Fever -- 20,366 against the Las Vegas Aces on July 2 and 20,333 versus the Mystics on June 7.

Clark's impact was a big reason for the increased interest in the league. The Fever set a single-season home attendance record of 340,715 fans.

Clark, a rookie, set WNBA records for assists in a season (337) and a single game (19).

Las Vegas star A'ja Wilson set single-season records for scoring average (26.9 points per game), total points (1,021) and total rebounds (451). She won her third MVP award in unanimous fashion.

Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese set a single-season record by averaging 13.1 rebounds per game.

Also, the league said a record 22 regular-season telecasts averaged at least 1 million viewers.

--Field Level Media