StubHub partners with Chicago Sky as sports teams recognize value of insights from ticketing platforms

The GIST: On Monday, ticket resale marketplace StubHub announced a multiyear partnership with the Chicago Sky, marking the first deal of its kind in the WNBA. This isn’t just a win for fans looking for alternative ticket platforms — we’ve seen sports clubs’ ticketing partnerships offer valuable benefits for all parties. Let’s lock in.

The landscape: Today, ticketing platforms are able to comprehensively aggregate demographic and engagement data from fans. Ticketmaster, for example, just released a report highlighting the growth of basketball fandom among Gen Z and women fans. Among Gen Z women fans, 71% say women’s basketball is their fave sport — that’s valuable knowledge for a team like the Sky.

• Others, like SeatGeek, are getting creative beyond just offering data points. The ticket platform introduced “Game Day Your Way,” a unique IRL activation piloted at Rocket Arena during the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers’ playoff run.

• The brand was able to connect a fan’s ticketing, entry, concessions, and payment experiences throughout gameday into one system, allowing teams to gain insights from fan behavior across the entire night.

The benefits: StubHub’s 2026 Chicago Sky data indicate 71% of buyers are first-time WNBA purchasers, and 40% of buyers are from outside Illinois. These numbers allow the Sky to better understand its fanbase, which can guide the team in the amenities it provides. For example, all those out-of-towners could make the case for beefing up its hospitality partnerships.

• In 2025, the NC Courage became the first NWSL team to partner with ticketing platform Jump. The company found that only 6% of fans were returning to games, but after those initial learnings, the Courage has since upped its return rate to 34%.

Zooming out: Understanding fans is big business — that’s why Genius Sports acquired Sports Innovation Lab last year — and everyone is increasingly recognizing the value of women’s sports fans. But who exactly are they? Sometimes, the answers are surprising: The Dallas Wings and Golden State Valkyries have noted a growing male fanbase.

• A ticketing partnership streamlines access to who attends games, and that data is invaluable to teams. This deal will also directly benefit StubHub as it looks to build out HerSportsHub, its new ticketing platform dedicated to women’s sports. Someone’s got to meet the need.