The three-year season ticket holder bought 20 tickets for his giveaway on Twitter, hoping to encourage fans to show up and show up.
It turns out that even the free tickets couldn’t occupy seats. Many of the people who said they would get one never showed up, he told Business Insider.
Flash forward to 2024: A New York Liberty game against the Indiana Fever — basketball star Caitlin Clark’s team — brought in ABC’s most viewers ever for a WNBA game and reportedly brought in over $2 million in ticket revenue.
“The demand for tickets has been so amazing,” Rodriguez said of this season. He added, “I can’t believe what’s been done and I’m so happy. I’m so proud.”
Dan Rodriguez (center) with New York Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot (left) and New York Liberty forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (right). Courtesy of Dan Rodriguez
It’s the kind of whiplash W’s fans, as WNBA enthusiasts like to call themselves, have experienced over the past few years. The effect is only turbocharged by a class of rookie superstars and next-gen stars like Clark and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.
Clark, in particular, has quickly become a household name as her legend grew during a record-setting career at the University of Iowa. She is a constant presence on ESPN and throughout the sports-media landscape. The discourse surrounding the star and her new rivalry with Reese generates endless discourse online.
The fans have shown that they are ready to splash to see him play, and it has raised the profile of the entire league.
The average price of WNBA tickets sold in the secondary market, before fees, has nearly doubled from last year — from $49.50 to $91.88, according to data provided to BI by ticketing technology company Logitix. The data included all games completed through July 17, when the league paused its season for the Olympics.
For some fans, it’s bittersweet: The rise to the mainstream of women’s sports is bringing eyeballs, media attention and endorsement deals to athletes that have historically been are overlooked in favor of their male counterparts. But it has also worried longtime fans that high ticket prices will leave them behind.
Of course, the WNBA isn’t the only sports league where ticket prices have soared in recent years as more Americans flock to live events of all kinds. However, the WNBA’s growing popularity — and its unique fan base — has left fans with a special case of sticker shock.
“It’s a byproduct of the huge popularity of the league that’s going on right now. And so, there are some drawbacks to it,” Rodriguez said. But, he added, “I didn’t think I’d see a time when they would regularly sell out the high-end sections. Now they do on a regular basis.”
With hype comes high prices
The price for L’s pass to five Chicago Sky games this season went from about $300 to about $500. Plus, the team is introducing “tiered pricing,” meaning that for holders of partial packages like L, some games will cost an extra premium to attend.
L said many of their friends did not renew their season tickets.
“It’s kind of hard,” said L, whose name is known to BI but is being withheld due to privacy concerns. “I actually made a paper for and against all the different scenarios.”
Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College, told BI that other fans could be in a similar situation.
“This is America. We have a market economy and when something becomes more popular and the demand for it increases, the prices go up,” he said.
David Berri, a sports economist at Southern Utah University who has researched gender issues in sports, told BI that even if a team decided not to raise prices, its tickets would be sold for the market rate on the platforms. ticket resale.
“Either the team collects the money or people resell the tickets,” Berry said, adding, “There’s no real solution to this issue.”
Katherine Arnold, an Indiana Fever season ticket holder, has seen the demand firsthand. Like many season ticket holders, she can’t make it to every game, so she has sold some of her tickets throughout the season. It allowed its ticketing platform to set the price automatically; the tickets she originally paid $65 for ended up selling for between $450 and $750.
“I actually gave up our tickets because they were selling for so much,” Arnold said. “I actually felt bad about it.”
Katherine Arnold and husband Jeremey at an Indiana Fever game. Courtesy of Katherine Arnold
Berry said the WNBA’s ascent is following a “remarkably similar” pattern to that of the MLB, NFL and NBA. He said each league saw low attendance in the first decades before it was launched.
“I can’t blame the teams, the owners, for taking advantage of the popularity and trying to make extra money off of it,” Arnold said. But, she said, “it’s really bad” that higher prices could turn some fans away from the games.
Rising prices fuel fan frustration over player wages
Some fans told BI they are willing to pay more for tickets but want the higher prices to translate into higher player salaries.
The WNBA’s annual salaries range between $64,000 and $252,000, compared to roughly $1 million to $50 million in the NBA — although the two leagues’ games have recently drawn a similar number of eyeballs. Throughout the 2023-2024 regular season, the NBA averaged 1.6 million viewers across its major television partners. The first month of the current WNBA season averaged 1.3 million viewers per game.
Despite the fans’ frustrations, it may take some time before the financial rewards are fully realized for the players.
Under the current collective bargaining agreement, only about 10% of the league’s revenue flows into player salaries, Berry said — compared to 50% in the NBA. There has been speculation that the players will opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement after the 2025 season, potentially setting the stage for negotiations on topics such as the league’s revenue-sharing model.
Zimbalist said when the league’s revenue was lower, it probably wasn’t financially prudent for teams to give players a bigger piece of the pie. But times are changing.
“Eventually they should get up to the same 50% range that NBA players are getting,” he said.
Despite the salary discrepancy, WNBA players have enjoyed some improved amenities this season. In May, commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the league would begin charter flights for team travel.
I wonder if Caitlin Clark’s fever will last
The Indiana Fever’s recently released midseason report shows just how pronounced the Caitlin Clark effect has been. Some highlights:
- 100% of season tickets are sold
- 264% increase in total attendance
- 1,193% increase in jersey sales from last year
- 700% increase in team store transactions from 2023
- 225% increase in corporate partnerships
- More views on social media than any team in the WNBA, NBA, NFL, NHL or MLB since April
But Victor Matheson, a sports economist at the College of the Holy Cross, told BI that the WNBA’s ability to capture the momentum is still up for debate.
“The real question for the WNBA is whether the Caitlin Clark craze is sustainable,” he said, adding that it remains to be seen how many fans who spent their time watching Clark’s Fever play will regularly attend games against other opponents. .
When Indiana Fever games are excluded from the data, the average price of tickets sold through a secondary market, before fees, was $66.69 this season, per Logitix. When Fever games are included, it was $91.88.
Some WNBA teams have played in larger arenas for high-demand games so more fans can attend. That, in theory, could help lower prices as bigger venues increase ticket supply, said Patrick Rishe, a sports business professor at Washington University in Saint Louis.
“It’s a little bittersweet where it would be great to have a new arena, a little more professional than where we are now,” said Dave Elsea, a season ticket holder for the Las Vegas Aces – the reigning W’s and home champions . for MVP-hopeful and legend W A’ja Wilson. He first became involved with the team through their $10 tickets, but said his current season tickets cost about $25 per game.
If there is too much fan push for higher prices in future seasons, Holy Cross’s Matheson said ticket prices could be reduced — teams use dynamic pricing models that adjust prices based on supply and demand. But as long as demand is strong, he said prices are likely to rise.
“Sports teams are not in the business of leaving money on the table,” he said.
But even if prices go up, Smith College’s Zimbalist said teams will have to make sure tickets remain affordable for a wide enough audience.
“To really make the WNBA take off as a popular spectator sport, you’re going to have to get middle-income Americans involved,” he said.
Dan Tamburro, director of ticket sales and service for the Connecticut Sun, told Business Insider that team ticket prices in general have increased this season due to strong demand and may increase further next season — though prices have not yet been announced. have been confirmed. He said the team is working to make sure the tickets are worth the cost by offering perks like access to special team events for season ticket holders or giveaways for casual fans.
Preserving a unique culture
The influx of new fans also means more than just more expensive tickets. It’s a bitter paradox for some fans who take comfort in the W’s uniqueness in the sports space: It’s a league that’s predominantly black and proudly queer. Now, it’s hitting a mainstream that doesn’t necessarily look the same.
Emma, ​​a young Chicago professional and Sky season ticket holder, said she is excited about the opportunities for players and leagues from the influx of attention and money.
Its seats will cost 50% more next season. It is important for him to see a concerted effort to highlight and preserve the diverse range of fans and players.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s always going to be the weird little perfect pocket of humanity that it has been,” said Emma, ​​whose last name is known to Business Insider but has not been released due to privacy concerns. Emma believes it is important for the league to remain open to its commitment to racial justice and LGBTQ+ issues, both of which have been pushed by players and fans over time.
“I think that’s the main thing, is to make sure that that kind of identity and that kind of pride and openness in that doesn’t get washed away in favor of something that seems easier or better or more commercialized,” she said.
Are you a sports fan frustrated by high ticket prices? Have you found a creative way to attend sporting events on a budget? If so, contact these journalists at jzinkula@businessinsider.com AND jkaplan@businessinsider.com.