For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.
Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before.
On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.
According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets.
In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.
"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."
As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.
The South Carolina women’s basketball team has perhaps never been more popular.
Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley announced on X that the team had sold more 10,100 season tickets for the 2023-24 campaign, surpassing last year’s total.
“Let’s gooo!” Staley wrote on X.
As of Friday morning, Staley said, South Carolina had sold 10,144 season tickets, already up from last year’s number of 10,084.
The Gamecocks play Rutgers in an exhibition game at home Oct. 22, before challenging Notre Dame in a neutral site game in Paris on Nov. 6. They then host Maryland on Nov. 12.
South Carolina won a program record 36 games last season and entered the Final Four without having suffered a loss. They fell to Iowa, 77-73, in the NCAA semifinal.
The team enters the season with high expectations, even without star players Aliyah Boston and Zia Cook, who left for the WNBA.
“We can’t erase what took place for the last four years,” Staley told reporters. “But we can start anew and give this team its own identity. … They’re in a good place.”
Point guard Raven Johnson is expected to step into a leadership role after averaging 18.6 minutes per game as a backup last season.
“It’s got to be a team effort,” Johnson said. “If I’m buying in, everybody’s got to buy in.”