2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever weighed in on the increased viewership of the WNBA. She attributes the rise to fans following their favorite college players to the league.
“Women’s basketball is getting a lot more attention being drawn to it,” Boston said on NBC Sports. “I think that’s all we can really ask for is just the continued viewership just going up; more people paying attention. As you continue to show more games, the revenue will come because, as you can tell, there are people interested. There are so many people interested in watching the W, and I think a big part of that is fan bases from college following their players into the league, which is amazing.”
The 2023 WNBA season viewership continued to grow this season, with a 103% rise in opening night viewership and a 42% year-over-year draft viewership. In addition, the All-Star game was the most viewed in 16 years.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert thinks the new wave of post-name, image and likeness era college players coming into the league could positively affect the WNBA.
“It’s just going to be really interesting to see those players come into our league with big followings and see what that does to lift the viewership and the engagement in our league,” Engelbert said.
As the viewership increases, so will media deals and partnerships. The next to follow would be increased salaries for players, more revenue for better facilities akin to the Las Vegas Aces headquarters, and potentially more expansion teams.
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