Follow along here at Beyond Women’s Sports for the weekly attendance updates in the WNBA. New updates will be published every Monday. The numbers reported below are up to and including games through Aug. 6.
WNBA Attendance: Week in review
This attendance report spanned the week of Aug. 1 through Aug. 6. For this one-week span, the league has a total of 15 games. Additionally, the upcoming week will see a total of only 12 games. In general, this week did not see solid attendance numbers. Furthermore, league attendance dropped and is up by only 17.9% compared to 2022’s final average. In contrast, in the past two weeks, the league held steady with a 19.3% increase from 2022. The largest crowd for the week was the New York Liberty’s Aug. 6 game against Las Vegas, which drew 11,418. The smallest crowd for the week belongs to the Indiana Fever, which drew 3,018 on Aug. 1.
Currently, eleven teams are now up from their 2022 final average, with the Seattle Storm, the lone team below their 2022 final average. Moreover, the largest increase by one team is currently the Las Vegas Aces (+3,483). The largest decrease by one team from 2022 is the Seattle Storm (-1,980). Finally, the league is shy of topping its 2018 final average of 6,779 and has surpassed its 2019 average (6,528).
Below is the graphic comparing the 2022 season’s final averages. The reported capacity numbers for each arena are based on the team’s arena being fully open. Half of the league’s teams play in NBA-sized arenas that unless needed, close off their upper bowl sections*.
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
History made at @barclayscenter 🙌 pic.twitter.com/wETZhWP2VZ
— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) August 6, 2023
The league is still currently on pace to reach an average of 7,000 fans per game. There is now only five weeks left remaining in the regular season. Play-off bound teams will likely see the largest crowds in these final weeks. The league’s Commissioner’s Cup Game on Aug. 15 will not count toward the league’s overall attendance. Last week’s attendance report is still currently available.
Featured image courtesy of Geoff Magliocchetti of Fan Nation.
Todd Roman is on Twitter too. Follow Todd @TBRBWAY.
