WNBA’s 2.5m fans break attendance record

Image: Chase Center, Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has broken its single-season attendance record, pulling in more than 2.5 million fans to games around the U.S.

CBS News said the new record, which was reached in mid-August, accounts for crowds that attended 226 WNBA games in 2025 involving 13 teams. The previous 2002 record was set with 16 teams across 256 games.

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women’s professional basketball league based in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams and is set to increase to 18 by 2030.

It is considered the premier professional women’s basketball league in the world. The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.

The Golden State Valkyries are the biggest drivers of the attendance increase having sold out all 16 home games at Chase Center in their inaugural season (289,024 total attendees).

The Indiana Fever have also continued to attract fans and lead the league in total attendance so far with more than 300,000 fans watching 18 home games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The New York Liberty are also averaging 29% more fans per game this year at Barclays Center. They have already surpassed their total attendance from last season by nearly 25,000 fans despite playing three fewer games so far.

The WNBA is averaging more than 11,000 fans per game this year and with the season ending on Sept. 11, it will significantly increase its record-setting attendance figure.

This latest milestone follows what WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in June described as an increasing public demand for women’s basketball.

At the time, the league shared its plans to expand from 15 teams next year to 18 teams by 2030, with new teams in Portland, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia.

The expansion is part of a commitment to growing the game, increasing opportunities for players, and bringing professional women’s basketball to new and passionate fanbases in more cities.

The Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia teams’ inclusion in the league is pending approval by the WNBA and NBA Boards of Governors.

If they are approved, Cleveland will start to play in 2028, followed by teams in Detroit and Philadelphia in 2029 and 2030, according to the WNBA.

The Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, which had been previously announced, are both set to start playing in 2026.

Engelbert said in a statement, “The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family.

“This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league’s extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game, and the surging demand for investment in women’s professional basketball.”

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