With the 2025 WNBA season tipping off in just three weeks, opportunities to see the league's stars in action are becoming more expensive, as top players fuel rising ticket prices in the secondary market.
According to market analysis firm Victory Live, the league's average 2025 ticket price is already up 43% year-over-year, rising from $122 in 2024 to $173 this season.
Much of the climbing 2025 WNBA ticket prices come from teams fielding young superstars.
The Indiana Fever remain huge interest drivers thanks to a revamped roster centered around 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, with demand to catch the Fever on the road rising to a league-leading $282 average ticket price — nearly $100 more than the $185 per game the second-place Chicago Sky's and third-place Las Vegas Aces' away-game slates are commanding.
Looking at individual games, Indiana also scores big, accounting for nine of the highest-cost regular-season matchups — eight on the road, and one at home.
The 2023 champion Aces' May 17th season opener at the 2024 title-winning New York Liberty's Barclays Center is the lone Top-10 game to not feature the Fever, clocking in on the price list at No. 7.
Similar to her 2024 compatriot, 2025 WNBA Draft overall No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers is helping to drive top demand for her new team, the Dallas Wings.
Bolstered by Bueckers, the Wings hold the highest average home ticket price at $241 and saw their away tickets claim the WNBA's largest increase of 89%.
Accordingly, the most expensive single-game ticket to find is Dallas’s August 1st home matchup against Indiana, with fans shelling out an average $384 to see Clark and Bueckers face off at the 7,000-seat College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
The No. 22 kit of Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark weighed in as last fall's second best-selling basketball jersey in the US according to sports outfitter Fanatics, with the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year trailing only NBA superstar Steph Curry on the top sales list.
Clark's merch dominance is nothing new, however. Her Indiana jersey sold out less than an hour after the Fever drafted her as the overall No. 1 pick in April 2024, making Clark the top seller of any draft night pick in the company's history.
Even more, Clark's merchandise led last season's record-shattering WNBA sales, with Fanatics reporting that 2024 sales of player-specific gear earned a jaw-dropping 1,000% year-over-year increase by last summer's All-Star break — in large part thanks to the 2024 WNBA rookie class.
Fellow 2024 WNBA debutants Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese and then-Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin — Clark's NCAA teammate at Iowa — trailed the Fever star with the league's second- and fourth-most merchandise sales, respectively.
This year, a new WNBA rookie could give Clark a run for her money, as the No. 5 Dallas Wings jersey for 2025's No. 1 draft pick, Paige Bueckers, is already doing numbers at retailers across the country.
Already a brand mogul in her own right, Bueckers topped the 2024 NIL list as college basketball’s biggest earner via endorsement deals and merchandise sales prior to going pro.
Insurance giant Aflac is renewing their 2024 partnership with the WNBPA, raising the stakes at the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend by boosting prize payouts for individual competitions.
When WNBA standouts will take the Indianapolis court for the July 18th competitions, $60,000 will be on the line for this year's 3-Point Contest winner and $55,000 for the 2025 Skills Challenge champion.
Those figures reflect Aflac's overall purse increase from $110,000 to $115,000 — a move that aligns the two events' payouts with their NBA All-Star equivalents.
"Aflac's investment in us isn't a one-off. It's year two," said WNBPA president and nine-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike. "We're excited about what's ahead as we grow this together. It's not just about the rewards; it's about building a future where our value is undeniable."
Gray, Clark are early favorites for All-Star contest payday
While the increase achieves gender pay equity with their NBA counterparts, Aflac's initial 2024 WNBA All-Star investment already dwarfed the mere $2,575 allocated to each contest's victor in the league's current CBA.
Cashing in on that significant pay increase was Atlanta Dream forward Allisha Gray, who cleaned up at the 2024 All-Star Game by winning both solo events.
As the first-ever player to dominate both contests in a single night, Gray collected roughly 62% of her annual $185,000 WNBA salary with the dual wins.
This year, however, the champ will have some new competition to her title defense, as 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year and notable sharpshooter Caitlin Clark plans to make her WNBA All-Star 3-Point Contest debut this summer.
How to attend the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend
Hosted at the Indiana Fever's home of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game will tip off on July 19th, one day after both the 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge.
Tickets for all three events will go on sale online at 2 PM ET on April 29th.
WNBA star Caitlin Clark and the Fever will hit the airwaves sooner than expected this year, with multiple sources reporting that ESPN will televise a preseason game between Indiana and the Brazil national team on May 4th.
The broadcast boost will reportedly make the Fever vs. Brazil matchup the WNBA's first-ever nationally televised exhibition game, a move that comes after a 2024 preseason battle between the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky earned more than two million streams — from a fan's cellphone.
WNBA teams follow in the Indiana Fever's preseason footsteps
The May matchup will mark the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year's return to Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with the Fever set to play in front of a sold-out crowd at Clark's alma mater.
Indiana isn't the only team taking a trip down memory lane this preseason, with several teams bringing exhibition games to university arenas before the 2025 WNBA season tips off on May 16th.
Two days before facing the Fever, Brazil will clash with the Sky at Chicago star Angel Reese's collegiate home of LSU — an arena also familiar to new Sky recruit Hailey Van Lith.
Also on May 2nd, Notre Dame will host legendary alums Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, and Jackie Young when the Las Vegas Aces play the Dallas Wings at South Bend's Purcell Pavilion.
Less than two months before the season tips off on May 16th, the WNBA dropped its full 2025 national broadcast slate on Thursday, rewarding last year’s most in-demand teams with a significant uptick in screen time.
Fueled by the fan fervor around 2024 Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever will see a league-record 41 of their 44 regular-season games aired nationally this season.
That tally includes all five Fever matchups against regional rival Chicago, after the pair's June 23rd game averaged 2.3 million viewers — becoming the most-watched game of the 2024 regular season.
Just behind Indiana in earning significant national broadcast coverage are two-time WNBA champs Las Vegas, who will see 33 of their games aired across the country. As for the reigning champions New York Liberty, they trail the Aces by just one game, with 32 of their 2025 season games garnering national attention.
Record WNBA ratings spur big broadcast moves
Thanks to 2024’s monster ratings, big-name networks are increasingly recognizing the WNBA as a profitable summer product, with broadcasters expanding their coverage as the league prepares for its 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights contract to kick in next year.
With the 2025 WNBA season expanding from 40 to 44 games per team, ION is leading all broadcasters with 50 regular-season games, with ABC/ESPN, CBS Sports, NBA TV, and Amazon Prime all taking a piece of the pro women's basketball league's pie.
Broadcasters are also moving games off of their sports-specific networks and onto flagship cable channels, with a record 13 matchups — a full half of Disney Networks' 26 regular-season games — set to air on ABC, including the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game.
The league will also see its first-ever regular-season games earn primetime broadcast TV slots, with CBS Sports elevating two of its 20 games — the June 7th and August 9th battles between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever — to its flagship network, CBS.
As the WNBA shoots for an even more impactful 2025 season, broadcasters are helping to boost the charge, offering increased access to the league’s brightest stars and biggest games.
The WNBA will be lighting up the NBA’s biggest arena this summer, with the Chicago Sky announcing on Friday that the United Center will host their 2025 home matchups against regional rival Indiana Fever.
With room for nearly 21,000 fans, the world-famous home to the NBA's Chicago Bulls will hold its first-ever WNBA game on June 7th, with the Fever returning for the second United Center clash on July 27th.
"Chicago Sky fans have consistently shown up for the team and the city, and we want to reward their passion and dedication by bringing this excitement to an expanded capacity," said Sky president and CEO Adam Fox in a team statement.
An upgrade from their usual 10,387-capacity Wintrust Arena, the move provides the Sky an opportunity to break the all-time attendance records for both the team and the league.
Chicago's current record-setting game was a 77-67 loss to the LA Sparks in 2016, when 16,444 fans broke the franchise mark at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
The overall WNBA record belongs to the Washington Mystics, who narrowly defeated Indiana 92-91 in front of 20,711 fans inside the larger Capital One Arena last September.
Clark's Fever crowds fuel 2025 WNBA venue boosts
The upcoming upgraded Chicago games will be the second and third meetings between the Sky and Fever on deck for the 2025 WNBA season. Buoyed by NCAA rivals-turned-2024 WNBA All-Stars Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, the pair will clash five times across this year's campaign, with Indiana hosting three of the matchups.
In addition to the aforementioned record-setting clash with the Mystics, Indiana helped an impressive two other 2024 WNBA games break through the 20,000 attendance barrier. Even more, last season saw the Fever shatter the league's single-season home attendance mark with nearly 341,000 fans — a 36% boost over the previous record of 250,565 set by the NY Liberty in 2001.
In anticipation of the Indiana faithful again showing out in 2025, both the Mystics and the Sun — like the Sky — have moved their upcoming home matchups against the Fever to larger venues.
Washington shifted those games to the 14,000-seat CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, while Connecticut will meet Indiana at the NBA's Boston Celtics home of TD Garden.
How to see the Fever vs. Sky WNBA game at the United Center
Fans hoping to catch the Fever and the Sky at Chicago's United Center this summer — and potentially be a part of a WNBA record-breaking crowd — can snag tickets to the upgraded games beginning at 12 PM ET on March 11th.
Tickets will be available both online and via the United Center Box Office.
WNBA roster transactions have officially revved back up, with the Washington Mystics sending two-time All-Star guard Ariel Atkins to the Chicago Sky over the weekend. In exchange, the Mystics will receive the No. 3 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft — putting Washington in control of the April 14th Draft's third, fourth, and sixth picks.
Even more, the Mystics snagged both a 2027 second-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick swap while Chicago immediately rosters the Mystic’s last-remaining 2019 title-winner.
Atkins, who has spent her entire seven-year WNBA career with Washington, exits as the Mystics all-time three-point shooter with 397 shots drained from beyond the arc. She also ranks in the franchise's Top 5 for career steals, points, assists, field goals, free throws, and minutes played.
"Ariel has made a tremendous impact on this league since her rookie year," Chicago GM Jeff Pagliocca said in a team statement.
"As one of the league’s top defensive specialists and a consistent scorer, she is a threat on both ends of the floor who will help us build a playoff-contending team in Chicago."
WNBA trades showcase veteran vs. rookie roster decisions
With headline-making trades dominating the WNBA's news cycle and a game-changing CBA on the horizon, teams across the league have been weighing the potential upside of a high draft pick with speeding up postseason ambitions via a more experienced roster.
Chicago's move to acquire Atkins lends itself toward the latter, with the Sky seemingly aiming to pair the productive guard with the return of star Angel Reese to the lineup.
Washington, on the other hand, has racked up significant power in both this year's draft and future draws from the collegiate and international talent pools, perhaps signaling a more long-term development strategy.
Some squads, however, are attempting to do both. Seattle, for example, currently owns the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, yet the Storm still beefed up their roster by signing veteran forward Katie Lou Samuelson last week, after she mutually parted ways with the Indiana Fever.
Teams shooting for deep 2025 runs are now facing a key decision: Are they building toward the future, or is the future now?
With the 2025 WNBA season looming, teams have been adding preseason competitions to their upcoming training schedules, offering fans and players alike an early taste of both new squads and revamped rosters.
For those excited about the Golden State Valkyries, preseason will offer a first glimpse of the expansion team in action, with the franchise set to face the LA Sparks and Phoenix Mercury prior to their official WNBA debut.
WNBA returns to school for international exhibitions
Like the Valkyries, most teams will supplement their preseason camps with exhibition games against fellow WNBA squads. Two, however, have booked road tilts against the Brazil national team into their 2025 season prep.
Both Indiana and Chicago are strategically tapping into markets connected to their biggest stars, with the Fever traveling to Caitlin Clark’s alma mater, Iowa, for their May 4th bout with Brazil.
Two days earlier, the international visitors will contend with the Sky at LSU — the collegiate stomping grounds of Chicago star Angel Reese.
Adding even more flavor to the Sky's matchup is Kamila Cardoso. The Chicago center is also a rising star for Brazil, meaning the May 2nd tilt will pit her against her national squad teammates.
This wave of exhibitions at NCAA sites comes on the heels of last year's preseason success, which saw Las Vegas defeat Puerto Rico at Aces superstar A'ja Wilson's college home of South Carolina.
While Unrivaled and NCAA tournaments will keep women’s basketball in the spotlight, the WNBA’s 29th season is fast approaching — and teams appear eager to flex their refreshed rosters well ahead of the league's May 16th opening day.
Sun deny Mabrey's trade request
One WNBA player who is likely not overly excited to report for training camp on April 27th is guard Marina Mabrey, who asked for a trade from the Connecticut Sun on February 5th. On Tuesday, team president Jennifer Rizzotti told Sportico that the Sun have denied Mabrey’s request.
Mabrey started the 2024 season with Chicago — a team she joined in February 2023 as a restricted free agent from Dallas — before landing in Connecticut last July after filing a midseason trade request.
"We knew at the time that she had already forced her way out of two teams, so it was a bit risky for us to trade for her," said Rizzotti, reflecting on her decision to roster Mabrey despite her trade-request track record. "But we felt like it was worth it."
In this instance, however, Mabrey asked to exit a Sun team that is wildly different from the 2024 WNBA semifinalist squad she joined last July. Head coach Stephanie White left to join the Fever after the 2024 season wrapped, and this offseason has seen Connecticut offload their entire starting playoff roster — including Alyssa Thomas, DiJonai Carrington, DeWanna Bonner, and Brionna Jones — via trades and free agency losses.
"The coach parted ways. No free agents returned and they are doing all they can to try and force Marina to stay when she clearly doesn't want to be there. It's interesting," Mabrey’s agent told ESPN.
As for the Sun, they're hoping to see Mabrey succeed alongside newly added Connecticut players like Tina Charles, Natasha Cloud, and Diamond DeShields.
"The reasons that we have for not trading Marina are rooted in positivity," Rizzotti explained. "It's rooted in a desire to build around her, have her here, have her be the catalyst for what we want to do offensively."
The Indiana Fever continued upending their roster this week, with the WNBA franchise announcing the departures of both forward Katie Lou Samuelson and guard Erica Wheeler.
First, the team agreed to a contract buyout with Samuelson on Monday. The 27-year-old was on track to enter the final season of her two-year contract with the Fever, on a guaranteed $180,250 salary for 2025.
Indiana reportedly acquiesced to a $106,419 buyout — allowing the franchise just enough leftover funds to sign one additional veteran to a minimum contract. At the same time, that buyout ensures that Samuelson — who will officially become a free agent next week after the requisite five days on the wire — will be made whole even if she inks a minimum contract elsewhere.
Then on Wednesday, the Fever cleared up more space on their roster as free agent Wheeler opted to join Seattle.
Fever aims for the ultimate WNBA prize with refreshed roster
Indiana as been cleaning house this offseason, from sending their 2022 No. 2 draft pick NaLyssa Smith to the Dallas Wings two weeks ago to this week's departures.
Exits aren't the only changes to the Fever's lineup, however. In the last few weeks, the team has successfully re-signed guard Kelsey Mitchell and traded for guard Sophie Cunningham while also stocking up on top veteran talent in free agents DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, and Sydney Colson.
The moves are part of Indiana's plan to make a major playoff push in 2025, revamping their roster to build off their 2024 playoff appearance — the team's first since 2016.
With a pair of WNBA Rookies of the Year in Caitlin Clark (2024) and Aliyah Boston (2023) forming the team's young core, the Fever are building a tested veteran shield primed for the challenge of a deep postseason run — which can sometimes spell growing pains both on and off the court as fans and players alike grow accustomed to the rejiggered lineup.
That said, Clark is focusing on the fun part of smoothing out the Fever's new-look roster, saying "I think it will be a lot of fun to get in the gym and be with my teammates and just start putting the pieces together and see what works or what doesn't... I think that's what's super exciting."
"The next few years are gonna be amazing for this franchise and will continue to be for hopefully 10-plus years," she continued.
"Hopefully we win a few championships. They’re investing to help us be really good."
WNBA roster shakeups kept rolling this week, with a deluge of moves radically reshaping the 2022 and 2023 league champion Las Vegas Aces.
After three seasons in Las Vegas, backup guard and popular locker room presence Sydney Colson signed a one-year deal with Indiana on Thursday. The Fever, who've been aggressive about inking athletes they believe will bring a title back to Indianapolis, targeted Colson for her veteran experience.
"[Colson] brings a championship pedigree to the Fever, adding depth to our point guard position, said Fever COO and GM Amber Cox in the team's announcement. "We have the utmost confidence in her ability to step into any situation and deliver on both ends of the floor."
Joining Colson in leaving Las Vegas is forward Alysha Clark. A key factor in the Aces' 2023 title run — which ultimately earned her the WNBA's Sixth Woman of the Year award — Clark is returning to the Seattle Storm, where she played from 2012 to 2020.
The Aces are also losing their 2024 Sixth Woman of the Year, Tiffany Hayes. Despite the Aces protecting her in December's expansion draft, the free agent guard will take her talents to incoming franchise Golden State. There, she'll link up with former Las Vegas assistant coach-turned-Valkyries boss Natalie Nakase.
"Having coached Tiffany last season in Las Vegas, I know firsthand the impact she brings both on and off the court," Nakase noted. "Her versatility, intensity, and ability to score will be invaluable as we build our team's identity."
Las Vegas Aces take aim at refreshed dynasty
After falling short of a three-peat championship last season — despite three-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson's outstanding 2024 performance — a significant Aces roster reshuffling was all but guaranteed ahead of the 2025 season.
Las Vegas kicked things off by shipping All-Star guard Kelsey Plum off to the LA Sparks last month. The blockbuster three-team trade sent Seattle's two-time champ Jewell Loyd to the Aces in return.
To shore up their front-court, Las Vegas inked 6-foot-4 power forward Cheyenne Parker-Tyus on Thursday. The 2023 All-Star averaged 15 points and 6.7 rebounds for Atlanta that season, and was on her way to matching that production last year when an ankle injury curbed her 2024 run.
Ultimately, Las Vegas's roller coaster offseason reflects both the WNBA's shifting landscape and the Aces' quest to revive their former dynasty, hoping a fresh start can fuel them all the way to another league title in 2025.