WNBA All-Star voting elevated by a lot more than 600 % from 2023 to 2024, in accordance to the final figures the league launched on Tuesday, July 2.
Past year, no WNBA player obtained 100,000 admirer votes. In 2024, Caitlin Clark led all vote-getters with 700,735.
Clark’s teammate on the Indiana Fever, Aliyah Boston, gained the next-most votes with 618,680. A’ja Wilson, very last year’s leading vote-getter, garnered 607,300 votes this yr, a 533 p.c raise that continue to dropped her two places on the overall list.
The WNBA All-Stars will go up in opposition to the United states Olympic Women’s Basketball Crew on July 20 for this year’s version of the All-Star Sport in Phoenix. For Group United states, it will be an exhibition as the crew prepares for the 2024 Summertime Olympics in Paris.
Admirer voting accounted for 50 per cent of the whole vote, with gamers and media accountable for the other 50 percent.
In addition to Wilson, numerous other players on Team United states gained ample votes for All-Star Choice, although their votes had been in the long run discounted when assembling the roster.
Clark and fellow rookie Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky are among the largest explanations for the enormous enhance in desire in the WNBA. Although the WNBA was on an upward trajectory just before the two entered the league, their existence has shifted the organization’s growth from constant to exponential.
The WNBA introduced in June that viewership across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and CBS experienced tripled from past year, now averaging 1.32 million followers for every video game. Attendance also enhanced by 17 p.c from very last calendar year above the first thirty day period of the season, creating it the most effective-attended opening month for the league in 26 years.
In the very first thirty day period of the year, buys at WNBAStore.com ended up up by 756 per cent in comparison to previous calendar year.
“What’s going on now in women’s basketball is affirmation of what we’ve often acknowledged: The demand from customers is there, and women’s sporting activities is a useful financial commitment,” the WNBA’s chief growth officer, Colie Edison, mentioned in a assertion when the league introduced its very first-month stats. “We’re inspired by growing engagement across all our verticals, especially as we welcome new and assorted audiences into our fandom. The WNBA proceeds to knowledge sustained advancement as our league embraces this heightened momentum.”
The WNBA All-Star Recreation by itself ought to also see a massive rankings enhance when it airs on ABC later this month. Not only will the match be loaded with star power, but there will be lots of story lines to push curiosity. Clark and Reese will play as teammates for the very first time right after likely up in opposition to just about every other in vintage game titles each as college and pro athletes. Clark will also deal with Diana Taurasi of Team United states of america for the 3rd time in a thirty day period. Remember, Taurasi famously informed Clark and her fellow rookies “reality is coming” in advance of they entered the league.
For the WNBA, fact is right here, and it is superb.