September 10, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nLast summer, Shann created a Google spreadsheet to help Liberty season-ticket holders track their price changes. She posted it on Reddit, and it has been shared widely among fans since. (More than two dozen entries show a year-over-year increase of more than 100 percent.) A representative from Vivid Seats, a secondary ticket sale marketplace, said it found a 43 percent league-wide increase in the average ticket price year-over-year this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal was to make sure people didn\u2019t just say, \u2018That\u2019s that. It\u2019s business,\u201d Shann said of the spreadsheet. \u201cI wanted to give room to the fans to stop and say, this actually is really crappy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent years, WNBA attendance, television ratings and merchandise sales have sky-rocketed. The league is rapidly expanding, with five more franchises joining by 2030. Team valuations are at record highs \u2014 the Liberty have a $540 million valuation and said they set a league record with $2 million in ticket revenue for a game in May 2024. The WNBA also has boasted its $1.1 billion, 11-year media rights deal, which goes into effect next season.<\/p>\n
Ticket supply has remained relatively stagnant amid the growth moment. Demand, meanwhile, has increased substantially, even as the league increased to a record 44 games this season.<\/p>\n
Along with rising prices, franchise operational costs have also ballooned. Business and basketball staffs have expanded as well, requiring additional financial resources. Since 2023, eight franchises either opened new practice facilities, renovated or began development on new gyms, with some construction projects costing as much as nine figures.<\/p>\n
All of that requires additional revenue.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said last week on the \u201cIn Case You Missed It with Khristina Williams\u201d podcast that ticket price increases are a function of the league arriving as a \u201clegitimate sports and entertainment property.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen there\u2019s high demand, prices go up, that\u2019s just simple economics,\u201d Engelbert said. \u201cWhile I hope we didn\u2019t price out families and a lot of our fans, I realize there are some issues in the system. But we do have to balance that with ultimately how this league has arrived in the sports landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n
Veteran Mystics forward Alysha Clark calls the current dynamic a \u201ccatch-22.\u201d \u201c(Rising ticket prices) is a good problem in the sense that (it) means we\u2019re growing,\u201d she said. \u201cAt the same time, we always want to make sure that we\u2019re doing what we can to make sure our fans feel valued and included.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eric Nemchock became a season-ticket holder after attending his first Chicago Sky game in 2012. At Chicago Bulls games, Nemchock said he \u201cfelt like a number.\u201d But at Sky games, he said, \u201cI felt like all the fans knew each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nemchock is thrilled to be part of the WNBA\u2019s growth, and he didn\u2019t expect static pricing. But when his two courtside seats in Wintrust Arena shot up from about $9,000 per season in 2024 to just over $22,000 this season? \u201cI almost had a heart attack,\u201d he said. Other Sky fans were similarly surprised and outraged by an unexpected announcement of an automatic renewal with a substantial increase last year.<\/p>\n
Lisa Bodine, a Washington Mystics season-ticket holder for 15 years, has taken her husband and son to games through the years. She worries that arenas will become less family-friendly with the rising costs<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grassroot supporters of the league have been family,\u201d she said. \u201cSome original fans can no longer afford the price.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rising cost of tickets has implications extending beyond economics.<\/p>\n
Long-time WNBA supporters take pride in the connection they formed with the league and its players before it achieved its current level of cultural cache. The league and its franchises have grown to embrace inclusivity through the decades and woven that into its brand identity. WNBA supporters and players frequently cite the league \u2014 and its arenas \u2014 as particularly welcoming to LGBTQ fans, especially compared to major male sports leagues. Fans worry that might change with the league\u2019s new popularity and high ticket prices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe WNBA fan base is diverse with a really meaningful presence from Black and LGBTQ+ fans, who have played a key role in shaping W culture and sustaining the league for nearly three decades,\u201d said Isard. \u201cMeanwhile, the distribution of wealth and income earnings in the U.S. are more likely to advantage White and straight folks. So, statistically, raising prices potentially comes at the expense of these core fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rising number of corporate partners could also change crowd composition, fans said.<\/p>\n
Deidree Golbourne, a Liberty courtside season-ticket holder the past three seasons, is known as the \u201cmayor of Barclays Center,\u201d but she\u2019s also reconsidering renewing after her $5,000 seat in 2023 rose to $7,500 last season and about $9,000 this season. She said it would cost $34,000 to renew for next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern is that what a lot of teams want is more businesses.\u00a0They want more folks that just have more income that are willing to spend,\u201d she said. \u201cThey want more celebrities. They want people that are going to bring them notoriety.\u201d<\/p>\n
If prices are dramatically going up, she said she\u2019d like to see more perks at games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here for the love of the game, for the love of the team. But if I\u2019m paying you $20,000, we\u2019re gonna need a little bit more,\u201d Golbourne said.<\/p>\n
Liberty season-ticket holders receive a discount at the team store, have a separate entrance at games, and can pay for their tickets on a 12-month plan. For 2026 renewals, New York capped price increases for tenured season-ticket holders at 25 percent, excluding premium season-ticket holders.<\/p>\n
Liberty president Keia Clarke, who has been with the franchise for 15 years, said maintaining an inclusive and diverse fan base at games is important. The team offers tickets at a wide variety of price points, beginning at $25, even with season-ticket membership demand up 900 percent since play began at Barclays Center in 2021.<\/p>\n
In other markets, decreasing concession prices is another way teams try to keep games affordable. Before this season, the Phoenix Mercury introduced a $2 value menu.<\/p>\n
Some fans said they feel a moral obligation to pay for ticket prices, a tension that women\u2019s basketball fans feel that fans of major men\u2019s sports traditionally don\u2019t face.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s part of what\u2019s keeping me on board, to be honest,\u201d Nemchock said. \u201cI trust that the money that I\u2019m paying toward my season tickets is getting the players the payment they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
New WNBA franchises are perhaps especially burdened with figuring out how to capitalize on the league\u2019s popularity, their franchise\u2019s novelty and creating a sustained fan identity.<\/p>\n
After a successful inaugural campaign by the Golden State Valkyries \u2014 who sold out the entirety of their first season and led the WNBA in home attendance \u2014 fans are already documenting ticket price escalations between 10 and 15 percent in a spreadsheet similar to the one Shann created. It isn\u2019t clear how the next wave of expansion teams, including Portland and Toronto next season, will price their season tickets.<\/p>\n
Cleveland\u2019s WNBA franchise won\u2019t begin play until 2028. But team president Allison Howard has already begun charting the franchise\u2019s future with this balancing act on her mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a lot of people really are trying to listen in to the community and understand how to make it a place for everybody,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd with skyrocketing ticket prices, how are we still making sure that it\u2019s affordable for everybody?\u201d<\/p>\n
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb \/ The Athletic; Photos: Elsa \/ Getty Images, Ethan Miller \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n