WNBA Mega ’24: Marketing, Media, More Teams, Rookie Marks, Social Mission

By Barry Janoff

September 27, 2024: From Day One to the playoffs, 2024 has been a record-setting season for the WNBA.

Bolstered by star players and a heralded rookie class, the WNBA said it reached new heights virtually across the court, including attendance, TV viewership, marketing deals, merchandise sales and social media consumption.

The league also continued to raise the bar regarding social issues and enabling its players to speak publicly on a variety of consequential topics.

The league recorded its highest total attendance in 22 years — 2,353,735 — up 48% from last season. The league’s 154 sellouts marked a 242% increase from last season (45).

The WNBA averaged 9,807 people per game, up 48% from last season (6,615).

The Indiana Fever vs. Washington Mystics game on Sept. 19 in Capital One Arena set a WNBA single-game regular-season attendance record of 20,711.

It was one of three games to draw at least 20,000 fans this season, along with 20,366 for Indiana vs. Las Vegas Aces on July 2 and 20,333 for Indiana vs. Washington on June 7.

The previous all-time regular-season attendance mark was 20,674, set by the Mystics on four separate occasions, twice in 1998 and twice in 1999.

The all-time WNBA record is 22,076 set on Sept. 16, 2003 in Game 3 of the Finals between the Los Angeles Sparks and the Detroit Shock (now defunct) in the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

The Fever’s total home attendance of 340,715 fans was a single-season record for a WNBA team, surpassing the previous home attendance record of 250,565 set by the New York Liberty in 2001 in 16 games.

All 12 WNBA teams had at least double-digit year-over-year growth in attendance this season, led by Indiana (+319%), Los Angeles (+69%) and New York (+64%).

The WNBA also said it had its most-watched regular season in 24 years and set records for digital consumption and merchandise sales in 2024.

In mid-season, the league went on hiatus for the Paris Summer Olympics, during which the USA Women’s Basketball team, with a roster of all WNBA players, won the gold medal.

The WNBA attracted an all-time record of more than 54 million unique viewers across ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ION and NBA TV. A record 22 regular-season game telecasts averaged at least 1 million viewers.

WNBA merchandise sales both online at WNBAStore.com and the flagship location in New York were up a combined 601% from 2023. In addition, merchandise sales at Dick’s Sporting Goods increased by 233% compared to last season.

Throughout it all, the league never lost sight of its players being front-and-center regarding issues such as race, voting and improving their own position as pro athletes.

As part of their season-ending media conferences, some of the league’s most high-profile players addressed the topic of harassment from some areas of the public.

“It’s definitely upsetting. Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism — hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments and threats,” said WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark during the Fever’s season-ending media conference. “Those aren’t fans, those are trolls, and it’s a real disservice to the people in our league, the organization, the WNBA.”

Said All-Star Brianna Stewart of the New York Liberty during her season-ending media conference, “When it gets to the point of hate and death threats, then yeah, there’s security that can look into that. . . . There’s not a space for that in this sport and really in any sport because at some point we’re talking about people’s lives here.

“So Cathy (WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert), the league, the PA (WNBA Players Assn.), all the players, need to make sure we send the message that it’s unacceptable, and we don’t want that type of fan in our league.”

In August, calling it a “commitment to engage with and support women's sports," the WNBA unveiled a multi-year partnership naming Delta Airlines the league’s “official airline partner.”

This agreement builds on Delta’s existing WNBA charter program relationship and is part of the airline’s “ongoing focus on women’s athletics.”

Earlier this season, Delta expanded its WNBA charter program relationship as the league introduced a full charter program for the 2024 season. The WNBA said it would commit $50 million over the next two years to provide full-time charter flight service for its teams during the season, according to commissioner Engelbert.

Under the expanded multi-year agreement, Delta now carries all 12 of the league’s teams throughout the regular season and playoffs.

In July, New Balance and the WNBA signed a multi-year agreement “aimed at elevating women’s sports and inspiring the next generation of fans and athletes alike.” Also in July, Bumble, the women-first dating app, and the WNBA unveiled a multi-year partnership to “elevate women athletes and promote equality within sports.”

Among marketing and media deals, WNBA ChangeMakers with multi-level support included AT&T, CarMax, Deloitte, Google, Nike and US Bank.

Gatorade, Skims, State Farm, Tissot and Dick’s Sporting Goods are also among the league partners and others that activated WNBA-themed campaigns.

In May, UWM's (United Wholesale Mortgage) Mortgage Matchup was named the “official mortgage partner of the NBA and WNBA," the first mortgage partnership for both leagues. Also that month, Dick’s Sporting Goods and the WNBA launched their girls’ apparel collection, the first collaboration between the two brands.

In April, Tissot, Wilson and the WNBA unveiled a collaboration on two new limited-edition watches, the first official watch in league history. Also that month, the WNBA signed multi-year partnership with Opill, the first daily birth control pill available without a prescription in the U.S.

Growth is now a WNBA mainstay.

Earlier this month, the WNBA awarded Portland, OR, the league’s 15th franchise, scheduled to begin play in the 2026 season, will be owned and operated by RAJ Sports.

This past May, the league named Toronto as the WNBA’s 14th franchise, owned and operated by Kilmer Sports Ventures, scheduled to begin play in the 2026 season.

The WNBA’s 13th team, the Golden State Valkyries, was unveiled this past October under the auspices of Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, co-executive chairmen for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, scheduled to begin play in 2025 in Chase Center, home to the Warriors.

The league said it plans to have a 16th team in play by 2028, with Denver, Miami, Nashville and Philadelphia among the sites being considered.

This past July, the NBA officially renewed its media deal with The Walt Disney Company and signed new agreements with NBCUniversal (NBC Sports) and Amazon's Prime Video, which also encompasses renewed and new pacts for the WNBA. Spend for the WNBA media deals were put at $2.2 billion by industry analysts.

“Partnering with Disney, Amazon and NBCU marks a monumental chapter in WNBA history and clearly demonstrates the significant rise in value and the historic level of interest in women’s basketball,” Engelbert said at the time via the league.

“These agreements allow the league to continue to build a long-term and sustainable growth model for the future of women’s basketball and sports which will benefit WNBA players, teams and fans.”

New international distribution deals for the 2024 season included the U.K. (TNT Sports), Taiwan (Videoland), China (OPG), Brazil (YouTube) and the Philippines (TapDMV).

Among players, two-time defending Las Vegas Aces center-forward A’ja Wilson set WNBA single-season records for scoring average (26.9 ppg), total points (1,021) and total rebounds (451). She also became the first player to lead the league in total points, rebounds and blocks (98) in a season en route to her third WNBA MVP.

Caitlin Clark set WNBA records for most assists both in a season (337) and in a game (19). She also recorded the first two triple-doubles by a rookie in league history and established single-season rookie records for points (769) and three-pointers made (122).

Chicago Sky rookie forward Angel Reese averaged a WNBA-record 13.1 rebounds per game and set another league mark with 15 consecutive double-doubles.

Other highlights from the league’s 28th regular season include:

• The WNBA set a single-season record with nearly two billion video views across its social media platforms, more than quadruple last season’s total (378 million).

• Monthly active users on the WNBA App grew by 252% compared to last season.

• WNBA League Pass, the league’s out-of-market live game package, experienced a 366% growth in subscriptions versus last season.

• The AT&T WNBA All-Star Game 2024 had a record of nearly ten million fan votes, a +538% increase compared to 2023.

WNBA 15th Franchise A Return To Portland

WNBA Renews Media Pacts With Disney, Prime Video, Adds NBCU

Englebert: Historic Time For League, Players, Women’s Sports

Rookies, Stars Lead WNBA To New Heights

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