Every basketball fan has begun to take notice of the WNBA in recent years, as it has seen a spike in popularity. Anyone who hasn’t is just in denial at this point. Players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Sabrina Ionescu, Paige Bueckers, and many more are ushering in a new era for the league that is beginning to dominate TV ratings. So much so that NBA owners are beginning to take notice and want a slice of the pie.
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Famous WNBA sportscaster and former women’s college coach Carolyn Peck is proud of the league’s transformation. But she can’t say she’s overly surprised. As she described, it’s only natural evolution that we’re seeing occur within the game.
Peck recently talked about how older WNBA players back in the ’90s and early 2000s had to model their games after male NBA players. But women players today are inspired by WNBA players they grew up watching.
“The players that are playing now, their role models are the players that they saw play in the early stages of this league,” Peck said on The Wrap Up.
Not only that, but she also pointed out how today’s WNBA players are training their craft from a young age.
“They’ve been working on their game since they were in the crib. That’s why they’re at the level that they’re playing now… They’ve worked on their craft from an early age to prepare them now,” Peck added.
It’s all resulted in a flurry of nightly excitement and highlights being produced by the league. A sporting period that was once thought of as a “dead zone” in the year is now being overtaken by the WNBA. It’s been an excellent job of marketing by the league’s commissioner, Cathy Engelbert.
Peck believes it’s been such an excellent job of marketing that the league’s players are now must-see TV.
“Every arena I go in, you see lines of people to get in, and the ticket prices are going up. So, teams and owners are seeing the potential to make a profit… It’s a show to see, it’s a must-see,” Peck said.
Additionally, the sportscaster shed light on how the WNBA has become a sport for everybody. Not just women.
“It used to be, dads bring your daughters. Or moms, bring your kids, it was a women’s sport. This is a sport for everybody. When you go to these arenas, there’s all walks of life that want to see these women play.”
It’s hard to deny any of these statements. The WNBA is experiencing a period of growth in revenue and popularity. However, it still hasn’t been enough to draw a profit. It was reported that the league lost around $50 million in 2024. Not to mention that the players are currently in a dispute with the league over revenue sharing.
It’s great that the minority owner of the Boston Celtics is buying the Connecticut Sun and wants to move them to Beantown. But that doesn’t help defuse the idea that the WNBA needs to rely on the NBA for support.
But it’s starting to look like one day the WNBA won’t need to rely on the NBA so much financially. As long as fans keep showing up, the league continues to grow, and more high-level athletes flood rosters, it’s only a matter of time before they will be financially relying on themselves and generating a profit.
