The Rise of the WNBA
A shift is happening across the sports landscape as women’s sports continues to ascend, and the WNBA is leading it. What was once a league fighting for visibility has become one of the fastest-growing properties in sports, driven by a new generation of stars, a smarter media strategy, and fans who want more than just a seat in the stands. In 2025, the WNBA is drawing bigger audiences and attracting more brand investment by focusing on a model of growth that emphasizes stronger connections between fans, players, and culture.
Viewership, attendance, and engagement metrics have all moved in one direction: up. According to the WNBA:
- Games averaged over one million viewers across 22 nationally televised broadcasts in 2024.
- League attendance jumped 48%.
- Merchandise sales soared more than 600%.
- The WNBA app saw user growth of more than 250%.
These gains are part of a steady climb that’s accelerated as the league has made smarter moves around visibility, access, and audience connection.
From Support to Fandom
The WNBA has always had purpose-driven fans. They’ve been vocal, loyal, and values-aligned, supporting the league not only for the game but for what it represents. But something deeper is happening in 2025. Fans are forming personal, emotional attachments to players, and the league is leaning into that momentum.
At Cannes this year, WNBA Chief Revenue Officer Colie Edison spoke about this evolution. Support, she said, is about showing up for games. Fandom is passion. This change is reflected in how the league tells player stories and in how those stories reach fans. Stars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and A’ja Wilson are both elite athletes and personalities, role models, and daily topics of conversation. Fans want to know what they think, how they train, who they compete with, and what they stand for.
The result is a more layered kind of fandom built around connection as much as competition. This kind of relationship opens the door to new types of engagement: player-branded content, off-court narratives, interactive features in apps, and brand campaigns that showcase players as cultural leaders. The WNBA has responded by investing in what fans want to see more of. Its 2025 “Viewer Discretion” campaign highlights the skill, intensity, and personality of the league’s biggest stars. The campaign makes space for the players themselves to define what the WNBA stands for.
Stars. A Platform. An Audience.
You cannot overstate the impact of the arrival of a recent incoming class of stars in recent years—in particular, Caitlin Clark, who arguably elevated the league well beyond its core fan base. In 2024, she was responsible for 26.5% of all WNBA economic activity, comprising revenue from merchandise, ticket sales, and television. But she is surrounded by a constellation of stars on the court and in the digital world, like Angel Reese (often described as Clark’s rival), Napheesa Collier, Kelsey Plum, rookie Paige Bueckers, and many more.
But getting here is about more than star power. Stars need a platform, and the WNBA is creating a stronger, more visible one.
In the past, WNBA fans had to work hard to find broadcasts. Games were scattered across niche channels or limited to local streams. Now, the WNBA is building a more unified platform strategy. Games are more accessible than ever, thanks to new rights deals that expand coverage across CBS, Amazon Prime, ESPN, and NBCUniversal. League Pass subscriptions climbed 366% in 2024. In Canada, viewership jumped 148% after the announcement of a new Toronto franchise (and there’s more to come as the WNBA expands into more cities). The league’s app has become a central hub for live games, replays, stats, and behind-the-scenes content. Social media engagement reached record highs as fans shared and reacted to buzzer-beaters, player interviews, and rivalry moments in real time. So, when A’ja Wilson won her third MVP during the 2024 season, she did it on a more visible stage.
This expanded distribution is shaping who the audience is becoming. The WNBA’s 18–34 female audience has doubled, while Gen Z and Gen Alpha viewership has climbed 60%. Viewership among Black women jumped 94% in a single year. These are mainstream sports fans who now have easier paths into the WNBA ecosystem.
As these fans arrive, they’re staying. But access is what converts interest into habit. When games are easy to find, and when players are easy to connect with, audiences do more than show up; they start following the stars and the teams.
Now, the WNBA is building a more unified platform strategy. Games are more accessible than ever, thanks to new rights deals that expand coverage across CBS, Amazon Prime, ESPN, and NBCUniversal.
A Smarter Digital Game
The WNBA’s rise is also a case study in how to use digital platforms to build sustained audience attention. In 2024, the league’s digital content pulled in nearly two billion video views. The Indiana Fever saw its social followings jump more than 150%, a reflection of the Caitlin Clark effect. There’s something else, though: WNBA stars are also digital creators in their own right, with massive followings on platforms like Instagram, as anyone who follows Clark, Reese, Bueckers, Cameron Brink, and many more can attest. On social, their personalities really shine, and their influence as creators and fashion icons soars.
The league has adapted quickly. Its digital campaigns now blend storytelling and interactivity, offering fans a constant stream of content between games. On TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat, the tone is conversational. Teams post locker-room celebrations, highlight reels, and fan challenges. Players go live, post training clips, and engage directly with followers. The result is a day-to-day presence that keeps the league in the conversation.
This strategy reflects a larger insight: that fandom is more than scheduled broadcasts. It’s built on micro-moments—highlight clips, player reactions, fashion walkthroughs, behind-the-scenes access. The WNBA has built a digital presence that gives fans a fuller picture of the athlete and the person. For a generation raised on social media, this kind of content is expected.
Brands See the Value
This growth hasn’t gone unnoticed by advertisers. In 2024, the average WNBA team secured 42 sponsorship deals, a 43% rise since 2022. Beverage brands, tech companies, airlines, beauty labels, and fast-casual restaurants are all showing up. Many of them are doing more than buying ad space. They’re integrating into the fan experience.
Brands can activate across every phase of the viewer journey: sponsoring pre-game social chatter, integrating into halftime highlights, partnering with influencers for live Q&As, and using dynamic creative to serve post-game recap ads. The most successful campaigns are multi-channel, multi-touchpoint, and tuned into fan behavior across platforms.
This, by the way, is where Operative’s AOS platform shines. By unifying workflows across digital and linear, AOS allows media companies to bundle these moments into cohesive, targeted proposals. Instead of treating each impression or spot in a silo, advertisers can buy a narrative arc that mirrors how fans actually experience the game.
And sponsors are seeing returns. Ads during WNBA programming now generate 40% more consumer engagement than prime-time TV ads, a 56% lift from the year prior.
That performance is directly linked to the WNBA’s deeper fan connection. Fans see themselves reflected in the league’s players and values. That alignment makes branded messages feel more relevant. And as fans spend more time with WNBA content, advertisers get more opportunities to speak to an audience that’s highly engaged, loyal, and growing.
The WNBA and the Popularity of Women’s Sports
The WNBA’s momentum reflects a larger cultural shift in how audiences engage with women’s sports. As my blog article from earlier this year noted, women’s sports is enjoying more reach and popularity, fueled partly by digital media. What we’re seeing now is the payoff: consistent investment in coverage and visibility is changing not just how women’s sports are watched, but how they are valued.
Women’s sports fandom was evident at this year’s ESPYS. Simone Biles took home multiple awards for her dominant performance in Paris and her return to the global stage, a comeback shaped not just by athletic excellence but by the emotional story behind it. Her fellow Olympian Suni Lee won the ESPY for Best Comeback Athlete after returning from serious illness to claim gold. And Ilona Maher earned recognition for a breakthrough performance in women’s rugby that captured worldwide attention.
These moments were evidence of a growing appetite for women athletes, their stories, and the communities they represent. The WNBA is part of that rise, and its continued growth depends on staying connected to this broader cultural movement.
Building What’s Next
The WNBA’s recent growth points to bigger opportunities ahead. In July 2024, the WNBA finalized an 11-year media rights deal worth approximately $2.2 billion, which runs through 2036. This agreement enables the league to begin broadcasting more games across major platforms starting with the 2026 season. New expansion teams will introduce the league to untapped markets. A redesigned collective bargaining agreement could reshape how the league compensates and retains players, addressing a long-standing challenge in the women’s game.
But future growth also depends on building loyalty at the team level, not just around stars, but around cities, rivalries, and local identities. The league has started laying that foundation. Expansion into Toronto and the Bay Area introduces new fanbases with distinct regional pride. Franchises like the Indiana Fever are learning how to turn a wave of player-driven attention into lasting community engagement.
While highlight reels and signature shoes attract attention, sustained growth often depends on fans showing up for the crest on the jersey as much as the name on the back. That means investing in local partnerships, cultivating home-court traditions, and creating reasons to care between seasons. The WNBA has momentum. Turning that momentum into permanence means giving every market a story, every arena a reason to fill, and every team a sense of identity that resonates beyond the box score.