The WNBA’s progress needs to be seen

Every time I looked from left to right, there was an A’ja Wilson jersey. Thousands of jerseys, both Las Vegas Aces and South Carolina Gamecocks, filled the seats. Courtside was full of current Gamecock players, longstanding supporters, family members, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, and South Carolina’s biggest “FAM” of them all, rapper Plies. Wilson’s legacy was reflected in every single crying fan, every single child holding up a poster for her, every single elder who has been coming to the Gamecock games since before it became the dynasty Staley built.

Thousands anxiously awaited for Colonial Life Arena to open so they could witness the Aces’ big three, Wilson, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young (Chelsea Gray is still out due to injury) and the reigning back-to-back champions live. The WNBA powerhouse faced Puerto Rico on the campus of the South Carolina Gamecocks, who won the 2024 NCAA women’s basketball title.

It’s 2001. I’m excitedly heading south on Interstate 85 from Raleigh to Charlotte, North Carolina, to see my favorite players, Staley, Allison Feaster and Andrea Stinson, continue the momentum for the Charlotte Sting. After a disappointing first half of the season, the Sting are rallying to turn around their fate, which ultimately resulted in a 17-4 record to finish with a historic season run. I was so excited to see my idols in person. I wanted to be just like them: sporting my teal and purple. Representation mattered.

It’s May 11. 13,507 people packed the arena while millions wished they could witness the greatness. Millions relied on highlights and social posts from those inside the arena. Millions missed out on real-time action. Though this day was a miss for remote viewership, millions have grown to know and love these players and respect the excellence they exemplify, so they kept the conversation going about the game, about this team. Representation matters.

A week before South Carolina vs. Puerto Rico, the public shared its disappointment at not being able to watch the Chicago Sky rookie favorites, Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, in their preseason debut against the Minnesota Lynx. Fast-thinking fan Alli Schneider live-streamed the game from her seat in the crowd of Target Center in Minneapolis, however, attracting more than 400,000 viewers.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve expressed her disappointment that the game wasn’t being aired. “Growth is happening so fast … business as usual isn’t going to work anymore,” she said. Reeve has longevity in coaching in the WNBA and has witnessed the ebbs and flows of growth since joining the league as an assistant coach on Ann Donovan’s staff for the 2001 Sting.

Reeve’s take hinted at the need to challenge the pace of progress as the league continues to grow (the Golden State Warriors and Toronto will receive WNBA expansion teams in 2025 and 2026, respectively).

“I think we’ve been ready for this,” Reeve said. She was far from alone in her sentiments.

“We shouldn’t be watching a stream from a fan to be able to watch the game.” Gray said. 

The demand is there.

After the uproar, the league and teams committed to having more games added to the preseason broadcast slate, totaling five 2024 preseason showings. Still, one game, a historic homecoming for the two-time WNBA champions and the reigning Finals MVP, was missing from the live-action lineup.

But why?

“Obviously, when you’re looking at preseason games, you’re looking at production costs,” Las Vegas Aces president Nikki Fargas said. 

The WNBA has not had to follow the team requirement to air all of its preseason games like its NBA counterpart. In 2022, no preseason games were aired. In 2023, there were two. In this preseason, five out of the 11 games were broadcast.

Fan urgency, WNBA precedent, and team responsibility come to head when deciding funding allocation. The matchup was a first of its kind, brought together by Pro Hoops, and “came so quickly,” so broadcast was “something [the Aces] were discussing,” but they ultimately decided to “look at where else [they can] create a model going forward [where they] baked in the cost to do so,” according to Fargas.

The 2024 WNBA preseason broadcast decisions initially followed the 2023 model: airing the WNBA Canada game and the first home preseason game of the No. 1 draft pick. The Canada game in 2023 was Minnesota Lynx vs. Chicago Sky and Boston’s home debut with the Indiana Fever against the Sky. This year, Canada hosted the Seattle Storm and Los Angeles Sparks and Caitlin Clark’s home debut with the Fever was against the Atlanta Dream.

Dallas Wings saw value in investing in a preseason network showcase and decided to air their matchup against the Fever, Phoenix Mercury arranged for their matchup against the Sparks to be televised and the Sky televised their game against the New York Liberty. The airing of preseason games progressed from zero to two to five games and now that there’s undeniable demand, teams and leagues can find solace in knowing the return of investment outweighs the risk.

Athletes see the outcry on social media and acknowledge it does need to change with the growing times of the WNBA.

Much like Fargas referenced in regard to broadcasting, it is a matter of prioritization of tasks.

“It’s tough, because you have to pick your battles,” Aces guard Kelsey Plum said. “What I’ve learned [is asking myself] is this the one I want to pick.”

Plum acknowledged the special moment for the Aces playing against a strong Puerto Rican national team.

“All the components came together to make this a very cool preseason game to watch. We’re reigning champs. We’re back at A’ja’s college. We’re playing a non-WNBA team,” Aces guard Sydney Colson said.

This preseason game was significant.

Historically the WNBA has not aired preseason games. But with growing demand, the heightened desire to watch “the 144,” as the WNBA is called because of its competitive roster allotment, is undeniable. 

“The audience is there,” Fargas said. “They’re eager to see the draft picks.” 

Fargas also mentioned how showcasing more games is a unique opportunity to focus on returning players and veterans.

WNBA preseason is a time for teams to test rotations, chemistry and systems. This quick two-week camp, which combines vets, draftees and other training camp candidates from different backgrounds, is essentially a tryout, a battle for a coveted spot on the final roster of 12. Some teams take only 11 players due to the hard salary cap listed in the current collective bargaining agreement. Preseason rotations are not typically reflective of a team’s decisions in the regular season. It is a time of infancy, a time of building and rebuilding.

The 2024 NCAA women’s basketball tournament season saw record viewership numbers. From the second round of the tournament to the championship game, viewership on ESPN was “best on record” each round. The title game scored an impressive 18.9 million viewers. Bridging collegiate fandom to pro fandom is a mystery that still needs to be solved.

“We’ve got to have a connection because we’re all wanting basketball to rise up to its full potential,” Staley said. Staley has produced greats in the game such as Aliyah Boston, Allisha Gray of the Dream, Tiffany Mitchell of the Connecticut Sun, and of course, Wilson. She refers to the Gamecocks fans as “FAMS” and the fandom translates seamlessly to the players on their respective WNBA teams.

Wilson, a two-time WNBA champion and league MVP, acknowledges the fan base duality and credits Staley and Aces coach Becky Hammon for building cultural standards.

“South Carolina has a fan base that really grew over time. And what it is, you see an invested fan base,” Wilson said. “And that goes hand in hand when you’re talking about Aces in South Carolina.”

The WNBA is so important.

The day before the game, the Aces visited the statue of their franchise player. This statue is on the University of South Carolina’s campus, a place Wilson said her grandmother wasn’t even allowed to walk through as a child. Wilson is a Black girl from the South who has worked her way up to world fame.

On game day, the ball movement was poetry in motion, as each active player got in the game and played her role. It was fluid and served as an accurate depiction as to why this franchise is so successful. Everybody eats on this team. Their synergy – though some kinks still need to be worked out, according to both players and coaches – resulted in a 102-50 victory over Puerto Rico.

Preseason scheduling was tough for the Aces, but if nothing else, they will leave the arena knowing they have the potential to pick back up where they left off in October. The fans take comfort in that and are willing to support them no matter what coast, no matter what opponent and that’s obvious by how they showed up for the Aces at a neutral site.

I think back to 2001 and smile at the progress the WNBA is making: visibility, investment, marketing. I think forward to the next few years and get excited at the possibility: a new collective bargaining agreement, new network deals, growing fandom. I think on May 11, and am sad that only 13,507 people got to experience the homecoming of one of the world’s best basketball players.

Mixed emotions can exist, but expedited progress is essential. The time is now.