"WNBA haters can sit down now" - Fans react to 23 year-old attendance record being smashed in season marked by injuries to Caitlin Clark & Angel Reese

The WNBA has been growing steadily in the last few seasons, with viewership and attendance numbers rising. However, the league smashed a 23-year-old attendance record on Tuesday, despite the year being marred by injuries to Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.

The attendance figures reached 2.43 million, breaking the 2.36 million threshold previously broken during the 2002 season. A thread on Reddit highlighted the record being smashed as the league averaged its highest attendance record since the 2002 season.

"The WNBA’s previous record of 2,364,736 fans was set in 2002, according to data from Across the Timeline. It took 215 games to break the mark this season, 41 fewer than were played in the entire 2002 season," the thread revealed.

WNBA fans were thrilled with the outcome and discussed this major achievement.

"And Clark hasn’t played half the season, WNBA haters can sit down now. This is great news," a fan said.

"This is such amazing news!" another fan said.

"Considering that 4 teams don't even have 10,000 seats and 2 teams don't even have 5,000 seats, this is pretty good news. if the Mystics and the Dream had bigger arenas they'd pull in more fans this season for sure. The Mystics got 11,000 when they played in Baltimore earlier this season," one fan said.

Fans discuss the growth in attendance in the WNBA (Source: Reddit)

Fans also showed love to the Golden State Valkyries, who have become the biggest drivers of the attendance increase.

"The bay is a basketball region at its core. It’s wild to me that there wasn’t a team (excluding the folded San Jose team of decades past) in the region until now, but they’re definitely proving why the bay was the right expansion choice," a fan said.

"Thanks Valks and Fever :)," another fan said.

Fans show love to the Valkyries for raising the attendance (Source: Reddit)

With more than two weeks still left in the season, that number is only expected to rise as the WNBA ushers in a new era.

The Indiana Fever, Golden State Valkyries and New York Liberty are among the teams leading the rise in attendance levels

The WNBA’s decision to add a team in the Bay Area is already paying dividends, with the Valkyries leading the league in attendance this season.

FronofficeSports.com reported this figure on Tuesday.

"The Golden State Valkyries are the biggest drivers of the attendance increase, as they have sold out all 16 home games at Chase Center," the report said. "The Indiana Fever have continued to attract fans and lead the league in total attendance ... The New York Liberty are also a growth driver, averaging 29% more fans per game this year."

The Valkyries are followed closely by the Fever and the Liberty, both contributing to the league’s growing fan turnout.

About the author

Arian Kashyap is a basketball journalist at Sportskeeda with over two years of experience at Essentially Sports and Spice Bite and a Bachelor's in Physical Education and Sports Sciences.

Arian's favorite team is the Miami Heat and it’s mainly down to Dwyane Wade being his favorite player of all time. Arian loved how explosive Wade was as a player and he had all the attributes, whether that be shooting, defending or passing. Arian really liked how he won titles both with and without a dynasty behind him.

Arian has also worked with Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools and was the manager for a Delhi-based women’s team called Garwhal Untied. Garwhal won the Delhi league and were runners-up during his tenure.

Arian has judged essay writing competitions for the Commonwealth Students Welfare Group of India in 2023 and was a part of the U-14 team for the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools academy that qualified for the AIFF Round in 2023.

When not working or watching sports, Arian likes riding his motorcycle and reading.

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Edited by nagpaltusharn25