While the Aces are busy selling out season tickets, the WNBA draft is touting a sellout of its own.
The 2024 WNBA draft, which will likely see Caitlin Clark go No. 1 overall to Indiana after the Iowa senior announced she would forgo her final year of collegiate eligibility, will be open to fans for the first time since 2016. And it didn’t take long for those fans to get their tickets to see Clark.
It was announced Thursday that tickets for this year’s draft, of which there were roughly 1,000, sold out within 15 minutes of going on sale.
When it was announced that the draft would be open to fans, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement that it would be one “fans won’t want to miss.”
"We are focused on creating elevated events that WNBA fans won't want to miss, at a time when the energy for the WNBA has never been higher," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement.
"As the official start to the WNBA season, we knew the WNBA Draft 2024 presented by State Farm should be transformed into a larger, fan-focused event to celebrate the incredible talent set to enter the draft.”
The Indiana Fever have the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft, which will take place on April 15 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The WNBA is returning to Canada, announcing Thursday that it will host a preseason game in the country for the second straight season.
The Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm will face off on May 5 in Edmonton, Alberta at Rogers Place. It comes ahead of the league’s 28th season – and as interest in expansion to the country heats up.
Last year, the WNBA hosted a preseason game in Toronto.
“Bringing the game to Canada, I think, will have an enormous impact,” Engelbert said in a video call with reporters. “I think it did last year, based on what we've heard and what our NBA Canada team continues to hear. And that's why we're coming again because we want to impact this game globally, not just here in the U.S.”
Edmonton was the choice due to its “incredible history” in supporting pro sports and “rich ties” to women’s basketball, as well as the success of the 2022 NBA Canada Series game at the arena between the Toronto Raptors and Utah Jazz.
“We'll continue to look at other cities as well but certainly was impressed with what everything Edmonton has to offer,” Engelbert said.
The announcement comes in the same week as reports of a possible bid for the league to expand to Toronto. While a bid with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment fell apart in October, billionaire Larry Tanenbaum – who is a minority owner in MLSE – is reportedly pursuing a team separately through his holding company, the Kilmer Group. The group is expected to meet with the WNBA board about the bid, with an announcement coming as soon as May, according to CBC Sports.
If Tanenbaum is successful, it would be the first WNBA team outside of the United States. But Engelbert said Thursday that future expansion teams would not begin play until 2026 at the earliest. The league’s 13th team, awarded to Golden State in October, is set to begin play in 2025.
“We continue to spend a lot of time and engage in very productive conversations with several interested ownership groups in a number of cities and markets,” Engelbert said. “[We] have no news to report at this time.”
This will be the fourth WNBA preseason game to take place outside of the U.S., with games also taking place in Manchester, England (2011) and Monterrey, Mexico (2004). Engelbert said Thursday that the league might consider playing a regular-season game outside of the United States, although most likely not in an Olympic year.
"It's something we're thinking about for the future," she said. "We'll be looking at it in years we don't have international competitions to interrupt the season."
The Las Vegas Aces made history on Thursday, becoming the first team in WNBA history to sell out its season tickets.
The two-time defending champions made the announcement of the sellout, which was around 8,600 season ticket packages. They led the league in attendance last season with an average of 9,551 fans per game. Nine of the team’s 20 home games were sellouts.
While most of the team’s games last season were played at Michelob Ultra Arena, twice they played at T-Mobile Arena – a larger arena – and drew more than 12,000 fans for both games.
Single game tickets are set to go on sale in late April, with the team opening its season on May 14 against Phoenix.
Season memberships are now sold out‼️
— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) March 7, 2024
Join the priority waitlist ⬇️https://t.co/C0t12nGOvq pic.twitter.com/lJZqla9FCR
The Aces enter the season attempting to become just the second team in WNBA history to win three consecutive championships. They would join the Houston Comets, who won four straight titles from 1997-2000.
The WNBA could soon be establishing a new franchise in Toronto.
According to CBC Sports, Billionaire Larry Tanenbaum is pursuing a WNBA expansion team for the city. While Tanenbaum is a minority owner and chairman of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, he is reportedly seeking to form a WNBA team without the MLSE group, which owns the Maple Leafs, Raptors, TFC, Argos and Marlies.
Instead, he is seeking the team through his holding company, the Kilmer Group.
A meeting with WNBA leadership to discuss the bid is expected, with an announcement coming as soon as May.
“We continue to engage in productive conversations with interested ownership groups in a number of markets but have no news to report at this time,” a spokesperson for the league said.
Similarly, the Kilmer Group would not provide further comment on the report.
“Larry Tanenbaum has spent his career building and growing iconic sports franchises,” they said in a statement. “He knows that Toronto has some of the greatest sports fans in the world and is always looking for opportunities to champion professional sports and deliver unrivaled fan experiences in the city he loves. Kilmer will not respond to speculation or provide further comment at this time.”
Back in May of 2023, commissioner Cathy Engelbert had said that Toronto was on a shortlist of 10 cities the league was looking at for expansion after the WNBA played a sold-out WNBA preseason game at Scotiabank Arena.
But Edward Rogers, who is chairman of Rogers Communications, which owns 37.5% of MLSE, reportedly opposed the bid.
In October of last year, the WNBA awarded the NBA’s Golden State Warriors the league’s 13th franchise. Another team was expected to be announced in Portland, before the bid was put on hold due to arena issues.
According to Engelbert, the league aims to have 14 teams by 2025.
The CBC reported that Tanenbaum is looking at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Toronto’s Exhibition grounds as a potential venue for the team. Home to the Marlies of the AHL, the arena has a capacity of roughly 8,000.
Tanenbaum is also considering building a practice facility that would also serve as a home training center for the men’s and women’s national teams.
Caitlin Clark will leave Iowa at the end of the season, announcing on Thursday that she will enter the 2024 WNBA draft.
The announcement comes ahead of her final regular season game in Iowa City, allowing fans the opportunity to celebrate the team’s Senior Day in full. It also changes both the college basketball and WNBA landscape.
Currently, the Indiana Fever hold the No. 1 overall pick and are poised to pick up the generational talent. Based on posts on social media on Thursday, they have no intentions of trading that pick away.
No. 1 ⏳
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) February 29, 2024
Clark had the option to return for a fifth year at Iowa due to an extra year of eligibility granted her due to Covid. Other star players, like UConn’s Paige Bueckers, have opted to return.
Instead, Clark – who recently surpassed Lynette Woodard’s AIAW women’s D-I college record of 3,649 points – will have the opportunity to play alongside 2023 Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston.
Before then, Clark has the opportunity to pass Pete Maravich for the overall D-I scoring record, needing just 18 points to break the LSU star’s record set in 1970. Pearl Moore’s overall AIAW record of 3,884 points, set at current DII program Francis Marion University, remains further out of reach.
“While this season is far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve, it will be my last one at Iowa,” Clark wrote. “I am excited to be entering the 2024 WNBA Draft.
“It is impossible for me to fully express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me during my time at Iowa — my teammates, who made the last four years the best; my coaches, trainers and staff who always let me be me; Hawkeye fans who filled Carver every night; and everyone who came out to support us across the country, especially young kids.”
— Caitlin Clark (@CaitlinClark22) February 29, 2024
Clark will likely finish the regular season leading D-I women’s college basketball in both points and assists per game, potentially locking up back-to-back player of the year nods.
In October, Clark said she expected to wait until the end of the college season to announce her decision. Instead, she will now get to use this postseason as a way to put a bow on her college career.
Haley Jones wants the misconceptions that women’s basketball players make less money in the WNBA than college basketball to stop.
As some of college’s biggest stars, including Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, weigh their options of going to the WNBA draft or staying for one more year, a lot has been made about the economic impact of moving away from the NIL landscape in college to the professional world of the WNBA. Much of it centers around the misconception that players’ NIL deals disappear as soon as they leave college.
Rookie salaries in the WNBA are currently around $70,000 a year, depending on when a player was picked in the draft.
Jones, who graduated from Stanford last year and was the No. 7 pick in the 2023 draft to Atlanta, said Tuesday that she didn’t lose any money going into the WNBA.
“Moving from collegiate to the WNBA, there’s a lot of misconceptions,” she said. When asked explicitly about losing NIL deals, Jones said: “That isn’t the case: the deals carry over, and then you add your salary.”
Doubling down, Jones said that she’s unclear of how the misconceptions started.
“I don’t know where that came from,” she said, before Sydney Colson chimed in to say that “it came from men.”
"Spread the gospel, please!"
— ELA_CBS Sports (@Erica_L_Ayala) February 29, 2024
"I don't really know where that came from ..."
"Men! It came from men!"
WNBA & Athletes Unlimited Basketball players Haley Jones, Lexie Brown, & Sydney Colson set the record straight on #NIL vs #WNBA endorsements. @WeNeedToTalk @CBSSportsCBB pic.twitter.com/PjtiznFfuT
Breanna Stewart is returning to the New York Liberty, having agreed to terms on a one-year deal.
The news was first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The deal is below the league supermax, which allows the Liberty to keep its starting lineup — which reached the 2023 WNBA Finals — intact. Previously, the Liberty had placed the core tag on its star player, ensuring that they would hold exclusive negotiating rights to keep Stewart in New York.
The fact that Stewart signed under the cap and on a non-guaranteed deal means that the Liberty could also go out and get another veteran player on a protected deal should they choose to do so.
Stefanie Dolson, who was moved to more of a bench role last season, opted to return to the Washington Mystics in free agency. The Liberty, meanwhile, have looked to improve defensively through their bench.
“I think we can look at our bench and I think we can continue to augment there and improve if we can get longer … this year we were very big heavy on the bench,” general manager Jonathan Kolb said last October. “We might shift that. You can add another wing, you can make that a ball handler, what have you, but we have to improve our defensive presence off the bench. And that’ll give us more options in different series.”
Guards Kennedy Burke and Ivana Dojkic have signed with the team, while forward Leonie Fiebich was also signed to a training camp contract.
One big-name free agent remaining is Tiffany Hayes, who averaged 12.1 points per game last season for Connecticut.
It’s also unclear what the status of Marine Johannes is. While Johannes was a key member of the Liberty last season, she could opt out this season due to the league’s new prioritization rule.
Stewart’s decision to sign a low one-year deal versus deferring her salary in a higher two-year deal could indicate larger WNBPA decisions as well. The WNBPA has to decide whether to opt out of the current CBA by Nov. 1 of this year.
The Liberty star has been vocal about wanting to opt out of the current CBA, saying in the upcoming Tubi documentary that she wants to do so. The current CBA runs through 2028, should players choose to forego opting out.
A new CBA will likely mean higher salaries for players, which has led to many free agency stars opting for shorter deals this offseason.
Kahleah Copper didn’t expect to be traded by the Chicago Sky, but now sees it as a “win-win situation.”
Once the centerpiece for the Sky’s rebuild, the 2021 WNBA Finals MVP was traded to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft, as well as other compensation. Speaking Thursday, Copper said that watching how the Sky approached free agency this year had her going to the organization to communicate her need for “wanting to compete.”
She says the team then worked with her to put her “in a really good position.”
“This is not like what I expected,” she said. “I’m just glad that we were able to come to an agreement and both come out in a win-win situation. I think it was what’s best.”
The Mercury have been loading up this offseason, adding Natasha Cloud in free agency complement Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner. Still, Copper said she doesn’t feel the pressure to win – even as Taurasi inches closer to retirement.
“No pressure really,” Copper said. “I know I have experience playing with older players who probably don’t have as much basketball ahead of them than they have behind them, playing with Candace Parker and just wanting to be the best version of myself every single day for them, and to win and to do big things.
“So, it’s kind of the same kind of same approach for me. No pressure really. I just want to go in and bring what I bring every day.”
The Dallas Wings announced on Tuesday that star forward Satou Sabally underwent a shoulder procedure.
She injured her left shoulder while competing for Germany during an Olympic qualifying tournament in Brazil earlier this month. At that tournament, the German women’s basketball team qualified for its first Olympics.
No timeline has been set for Sabally’s return. The former No. 2 draft pick and Most Improved Player last season is expected to make a full recovery.
Dallas’ first game is set for May 15, with the WNBA season beginning a day earlier. Last season, Sabally was named an All-Star while averaging 18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.
The Paris Olympics will run from July 26 through Aug. 11.
The Chicago Sky are continuing to rebuild their draft capital, one trade at a time.
They now have the No. 8 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, having acquired the pick from Los Angeles in exchange for guard Julie Allemand, the rights to center Li Yueru and a third-round selection in the 2025 draft.
With that, Chicago now has the third and eighth pick in the first round, as well as the 13th overall pick.
“We are continuing to build assets by securing draft capital for the upcoming years,” Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca said. “An additional first-round pick in 2024 will allow us to draft yet another valuable player and add a foundational piece to this roster.”
Los Angeles still has picks No. 2 and 4 in the draft, but add some much needed help at point guard in Allemand. Despite Olympic commitments and the new prioritization rule, Allemand is expected to play this season.
It’s unclear whether or not Li will play in the WNBA this season.
“[Allemand] is a great floor general and helps make everyone on the court better,” Sparks coach Curt Miller said. “Li is currently having an outstanding season in Turkey and will play a huge role for the Chinese national team in the upcoming Olympics. Li has great size and will provide a nice post presence for the future.”