The WNBA is growing like never before. It was already common knowledge that the W is enjoying great television and streaming ratings. But the league is also packing stadiums around the country, despite injuries to a handful of star players.
The WNBA set a new regular-season attendance record on Friday, per Colin Salao of Front Office Sports. 2.43 million fans have attended WNBA games this season.
This surpasses the W's previous record, which was 2.36 million fans back in the 2002 season.
There are still a few weeks left in the WNBA regular season. The league is set to crush the 2002 record by a wide margin.
It is impressive to see just how high attendance is during the 2025 season. Especially with some of the league's brightest stars down with injury.
The Indiana Fever are the current attendance leaders with over 300,000 fans at their 18 home contests this season. This is notable because superstar Caitlin Clark has only played in eight of those home games.
Clark has missed time with multiple injuries this season.
Fever coach Stephanie White explained that “the hope” is to get Clark back before the postseason.
“The experience throughout the year, trying to come back and come back quickly, has also taught her that she needs to make sure that she's 100 percent,” White added. “Yes, every competitor wants to play, but at the same time doing it the right way and making sure, after we've had a couple of setbacks, that we're prioritizing her long-term health and wellness is the most important thing.”
Clark is not the only player to miss some time.
Sky forward Angel Reese has also missed a handful of games with a back injury. She has been in and out of the lineup for weeks.
Salao also noted that The Golden State Valkyries and New York Liberty have done their part to increase attendance.
Golden State sold out 16 games at Chase Center during their first season in the W. Meanwhile, the Liberty saw a 29% increase in attendance, likely because they are reigning WNBA champions.
And this is just the beginning for the WNBA.
The league plans to expand to 18 teams by the 2030 WNBA season. That plan begins by adding the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire as expansion teams next year.
The W will continue crushing attendance records as it adds more teams and its popularity continues to increase.