April 16, 2025 by Philip Lewenstein
WNBA Is Mainstream, Cool
The 29th WNBA season is around the corner, building on the women’s sports boom, promising more growth and change.
The 2024 season greatly exceeded all expectations for the league and the Minnesota Lynx. Building on a spectacular college season, the WNBA flourished, and the Lynx ascended to a final Game Five of the championship series, losing in overtime to the New York Liberty, partly due to a controversial call.
I watched every Lynx game on TV except for attending one regular season game and Game Three of the finals when Sabrina Ionescu hit a game-winning 28-foot, step-back three to break Lynx fans hearts in an 80-77 loss.
The arrival of Caitlin Clark spurred a remarkable 2024 season, but, in fact, the WNBA success also culminated several years of strategic planning and preparation by the league.
Now, after years of battling for success and justification for its existence, the W has “newfound cultural clout,” says Emily Baccellieri of Sports Illustrated (October 2024). “Serious mainstream cachet. The WNBA is cool in 2024.”
The WNBA’s success is part of the dramatic growth in women’s sports at all levels. Existing and new leagues are flourishing. Individual stars like Clark, Simone Biles, and Coco Gauff are household names.
In Minnesota, with a history of success, the Lynx are reemerging as a WNBA powerhouse due to the work of Cheryl Reeve, the league’s best coach and basketball executive, and the play of Napheesa Collier, arguably the league’s best player.
2024 Was a Record Season in Many Respects
The WNBA in 2024 set records in viewership, attendance, and merchandise sales (“WNBA Delivers Record-Setting 2024 Season,” September 27, 2024, Official WNBA release).
The league 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 one million viewers.
The WNBA had its highest total attendance in 22 years (2,353,735), up 48% from the 2023 season. The league’s 154 sellouts were a 242% increase from the 2023 season. The Indiana vs.Washington game on September 19 at Capitol One Arena set a WNBA single-game attendance record of 20,711.
The most-watched 2024 game aired on June 23, when an average 2.3 million viewers watched Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky beat Clark’s Indiana Fever 88-87.
Total Fever home attendance of 340,715 fans in 20 games was a single-season record for a WNBA team, exceeding the previous home attendance record of 250,565 set by New York in 2001 in 16 games. All 12 teams posted at least double-digit year-over-year attendance growth.
WNBA merchandise sales both online and on its WNBAStore.com and the flagship location in New York City were up a combined 601% from 2023.
CNN data expert Harry Enten highlights the impact of Clark (“The WNBA is having a real moment-Caitlin Clark and the league’s historic season by the numbers,” October 10, 2024). He points out that nearly 1.2 million fans on average tuned into games including the Fever, about three times the average for games without the Fever.
Enten also attributes viewership increases to the Reese-Clark rivalry, noting that games between their two teams set league records.
According to ESPN statistics, the WNBA finals were the most watched in 25 years with an average of 1.6 million viewers, up 115% from 2023. Games 3, 4, and 5 were the most-viewed finals ever to air on cable.
Game 5 was the most-viewed finals in 25 years, peaking with an average 3.3 million viewers, a 142% increase from Game 4 between the Aces and Liberty in 2023.
Looking at data from Q scores, which help to measure the popularity of stars, Enten says that more Americans know who Clark (44%) is than baseball stars Aaron Judge (30%), Mike Trout (25%), or Shohei Ohtani (23%). Reese’s score is 27%.
Opening-night rosters featured 34 international players from 19 countries outside the United States. WNBA games aired or streamed in 207 countries and territories.
Several Individual Milestones Achieved
Several individual milestones occurred, according to the WNBA.
- The Aces’ A’ja Wilson set WNBA single-season records for scoring average (26.9 points per game), 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.
- Atlanta Dream center Tina Charles became the WNBA’s career leader in total rebounds (4,014) and double-doubles (194).
- Charles (7,696 points) and Sun Forward DeWanna Bonner (7,482) moved into second and fourth place on the league’s career points list.
- 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).
- Reese averaged a WNBA-record 13.1 rebounds per game and set another league mark with 15 consecutive double-doubles.
- With a league-leading three triple-doubles in the regular season, Sun forward Alyssa Thomas extended her WNBA career record to 11.
- Liberty forward Breanna Stewart became the fastest player to score 5,000 career points (242 games).
- Dallas Wings’ guard Arike Ogunbowale tied the league single-game record for three-pointers made (nine).
Lynx Exceeded Expectations Due to Reeve and Collier
Leading the Lynx were Reeve, named coach of the year and basketball executive of the year, and Collier, named defensive player of the year.
Reeve is the first coach to win the WNBA Coach of the Year Award four times. She earned the honor in 2011, 2016, and 2020. In her 15th season as the Lynx coach, Reeve guided Minnesota to a 30-10 record, second best in the league and the most victories in the franchise’s 26-year history. The Lynx gained the second seed for the playoffs.
Reeve led the Lynx to the championship of the Commissioner’s Cup. On June 5, she earned her 307th career regular-season victory to pass Bill Laimbeer for second place on the league’s all-time wins list. As an assistant coach under Laimbeer with the Detroit Shock, Reeve won WNBA championships in 2006 and 2008. She led the Lynx to four titles: 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
As head coach, Reeve led the USA Basketball Women’s National team to its eighth straight Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Several successful free-agent signings and trades contributed to Reeve’s winning the 2024 WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year Award; she also won the award in 2019. Reeve joins Curt Miller (with Connecticut in 2017) as the only people to win coach of the year and executive of the year in the same season.
On February 1, 2024, the first day of the free-agent signing period, the Lynx signed Alanna Smith and guard Courtney Williams and re-signed Bridget Carleton. Smith started 39 games and averaged 10.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.46 blocks per game. Williams started all 40 games and averaged 11.1 points and 5.5 assists per game. Carleton averaged a career-high 9.6 points per game.
The Lynx acquired guard Natisha Hiedeman from Connecticut before the start of the season and Myisha Hines-Allen from Washington at the trade deadline in August. Both Heideman, 4.9 points per game and 2.4 assists per game, and Hines-Allen, 7.5 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game, contributed significantly off the bench.
The new players fit well with Collier, all-star Kayla McBride, and Carleton. The 2024 Lynx were acclaimed for their chemistry and cohesion, often referred to as a collective, reflecting the beauty of the team versus individuals.
As a team, the Lynx led the WNBA in three-point field goal percentage, 38%, and assists per game, 23, and ranked second in defensive rating, 94.8 and steals per game, 8.6. Minnesota was third in three-pointers made, 380, and fourth in field goal percentage, 44.8%.
Collier was named 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. In her sixth WNBA season, she ranked second in the league in steals (1.91, tied for her career best). She placed fourth in defensive rebounds per game (7.5) and seventh in blocked shots per game (1.41).
Collier had at least 10 defensive rebounds in a game seven times. She recorded seven games with at least three steals and 15 games with at least two blocks. She had eight steals against the Los Angeles Sparks on June 14, a single-game league high; combined with her six steals against Seattle on May 17, she was the only player with two games of at least six steals.
The 6-1 Collier helped Minnesota rank second in the league in both defensive rating (94.8) and fewest points allowed (75.6).
Overall, Collier ranked third in rebounding with a career-best 9.7 rebounds per game and fifth in scoring with 20.4 points per game, the second-best figure of her career. The four-time WNBA All-Star shot 49.2% from the field, the second-best mark of her career, and averaged a career-high 3.4 assists per game.
Collier was a starter on the USA Basketball Women’s National Team that won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics. In December, Collier was named Minnesota Star Tribune Sportsperson of the Year. She earned high praise from her teammates and coach.
“At this point in my career, I can safely say Phee is one of one,” McBride told the Star Tribune (“This star is still rising,” by Kent Youngblood, December 29, 2024). “In her ability to be tenacious, so competitive, just a superstar. I mean, this is a superstar.”
Reeve said that Collier had the “realization when it was her time to take over. Do her thing, maximize what was around her. Put the team on her back.”
“That’s what I focused on,” Collier said. “Being really aggressive, throughout the game. I did that better this year.”
League Planned Growth for Several Years
The Clark effect sparked the league’s growing popularity in 2024, but, in fact, the WNBA had been planning to grow for several years with strategic commitments and investments.
“The WNBA, once an upstart concern grasping for notice at the margins of American sports, has seized the public’s attention like never before,” wrote Rachel Bachman of the Wall Street Journal. “In 2024, stars from Susan Sarandon to Steph Curry have become regulars in courtside seats, and the league has undergone a head-spinning conversion from after-thought to water-cooler conversation fodder.”
Long before the arrival of the 2024 rookie class, team owners, executives, and players had been laying the groundwork, making strategic commitments and investments, reflecting their confidence in the untapped potential of America’s longest-running women’s professional sports league, Bachman wrote.
“The triumph of the W may seem inevitable, given the supercharged atmosphere of the games, but women’s sports have always faced skepticism, and the WNBA has often taken the brunt,” Bachman said.
The league launched in 1997 with strong crowds and solid ratings but had to survive some rough times as several franchises relocated or folded. But more recently, a wave of wealthy owners began making unprecedented investments, Bachman notes.
“WNBA leaders realized they needed to better fund operations to fuel the sport’s growth,” Bachman wrote. “In 2022, they raised $75 million from investors, allowing the league office to hire more staff and drive revenue.”
The league also sought and landed multimillion-dollar stand-alone sponsorships instead of being a throw-in for corporate partners who agreed to sponsor the NBA, Bachman notes.
The WNBA had one person in marketing in 2019, but the league now has 25.
The league focused on changing how it presents itself, wrote Baccellieri of Sports Illustrated.
“The WNBA wanted to move away from the public belief that it was simply the NBA’s little sister. That meant marketing itself as its own entity on its own terms with its own story lines,” she said.
Bachman points out that after years of lobbying from players, the league committed to team charter flights to every game—at $25 million per season.
Recently, Bachman adds, owners in Las Vegas, Seattle, and Phoenix each have invested tens of millions of dollars in showcase practice facilities. They are some of the first buildings in the world designed for female pro athletes—Seattle’s was built without a single urinal.
Throughout its history, the W has struggled with its identity as a community, Bachman wrote.
“Early on, NBA owners grappled with how to market women’s basketball,” Bachman said. “Some gay players stayed quiet about their sexual orientation out of fear of public judgment; when the league launched, nearly two-thirds of the nation opposed gay marriage.
“But public sentiment moved in the W’s direction. Now, many WNBA players are out, teams routinely host Pride nights, and two-thirds of the nation approves of gay marriage.”
The WNBA describes itself as “a bold, progressive basketball league that stands for the power of women…the W is a unique sports property that combines competition and entertainment with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and social responsibility.”
The league’s next challenge is a refreshing one. “The league’s existential questions are no longer those of survival but ambition,” says Baccellieri.
Economic Landscape of League Shifting
The economic landscape of the league may be about to shift dramatically with expansion, a new media rights deal, and a new collective bargaining agreement.
The Golden State Valkyries will be the league’s 13th team, starting this season. The Toronto Tempo will be the 14th franchise and will begin play in 2026. It will be Canada’s first WNBA team. The franchise was awarded in May 2024 at a cost of $115 million.
In September 2024, Portland was awarded the 15th franchise at a cost of $125 million, and the team will begin play in 2026.
Cleveland is expected to join the league in 2028 as the 16th team at an estimated bid worth $250 million. Other cities are bidding for teams.
The league has a new 11-year media rights deal worth $2.2 billion, worth six times more than the current deal.
Meanwhile, the players want better salaries, better long-term benefits, and improved facilities as covered in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association.
In October 2024, the players association notified the league that it was exercising its option to terminate the 2020 agreement after the 2025 season, a year before it expires.
Under the current contract, the 2024 salary cap is $1,463, 200 with players taking home less than 10% of revenue, according to Yahoo Sports. In the NBA, the salary cap is just under $141 million, with players taking home about 50% of revenue.
Nneka Ogwumike, Seattle Storm forward and president of the players association, called the move “a defining moment.”
“Opting out isn’t just about bigger paychecks—it’s about claiming our rightful share of the business we’ve built, improving working conditions, and securing a future where the success we create benefits today’s players and the generations to come,” she said.
Collier, a vice president of the players association, recently told ESPN that she believes the players are in a great position to negotiate, especially given the surge in the league’s ratings.
“The league is just exploding,” Collier said. “You saw it with the viewership in the WNBA last year, with Unrivaled this year. People are tuning in. We have the most leverage we’ve ever had as WNBA players, and we have to use it to our advantage. The time for change is right now.”
Collier said that players want to avoid a strike if possible, but that they’re keeping it open as a possible way to ensure negotiations are in their favor.
WNBA Growth Key Part of Major Women’s Sports Boom
The dramatic changes in the WNBA are part of a major boom in women’s sports.
The women’s sports boom leveled up in 2024 and early 2025 in about every category, says Kendall Baker of Yahoo Sports (“Women’s Sports: Business Is Booming,” January 17, 2025, Yahoo Sports A.M.).
Baker highlights milestones in several categories: valuations and earnings, media and investment, viewership and attendance, expansion and creation.
“But there’s more,” Baker says. “The Paris Olympics were the first ever to achieve full gender parity. The National Women’s Soccer League’s KC Current opened the world’s first stadium built specifically for a women’s pro team, both Time (Clark) and Sports Illustrated (Biles) named women as their Athletes of the Year, and bars dedicated to women’s sports continue to open across the country.”
Baker highlights the January launch of Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league featuring 36 WNBA players as a direct reflection of how much has changed in recent years.
Collier and Breanna Stewart founded the new league in which players have been given equity and their average salary ($222,222) is nearly twice as much as the WNBA’s ($119,500) and the highest among all women’s team sports.
“Women’s sports are no longer merely ‘on the rise’ or ‘a space to watch’; it’s a thriving industry where surging fan engagement is driving sponsorship dollars, athlete earnings, and investor interest through the roof,” Baker says.
Lynx Could Win Fifth Championship
I can’t wait for the new season, which opens May 16 and ends September 11. The Lynx open at Dallas and play 44 games, including four against the champion Liberty.
The Lynx have announced their national broadcast schedule. ION will televise nationally each of the seven Minnesota games on Friday nights, starting with the season opener. Fourteen of the 21 nationally televised games include standalone broadcasts on ION (7), ABC (3), ESPN (2), and CBS (2).
Also, the Lynx will have one game on Prime Video, five games on NBA TV, one game on CBS Sports Network, and three games on ESPN3.
The Lynx return all five starters. They lost top reserves Cecilia Zandalasini to Golden State in the expansion draft in December and Hines-Allen to the Dallas Wings. However, the Lynx signed France’s Olympic team center Marieme Badiance.
In the April draft, the Lynx have the 11th pick in the first round and the 3rd and 12th pick in the second round.
Eight new coaches will debut, including Stephanie White, who moved from Connecticut to Indiana. Seven of the existing franchises hired new coaches; five retained their coaches.
Reeve returns for her 16th year as Lynx coach. She has the highest winning percentage in WNBA history. With Collier, she makes Minnesota a good bet to win its fifth championship.
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