WNBA Finals by the numbers
The GIST: Jonquel Jones isn’t the only one doing numbers during the WNBA Finals — the Liberty, Aces, and the league as a whole are breaking records left and right in yet another season of firsts. Talk about a fast break.
17.1K: Attendance at Barclays Center for Game 3, marking the highest gate receipt and fourth-highest attendance for any game in WNBA history. And two of those lucky fans won VIP tickets from NYX Cosmetics, the team’s first-ever cosmetics partner. Glow up before you show up.
1999: The last year the Liberty won a Finals game. The team didn’t just avoid a sweep yesterday — they set themselves up to potentially become the first to overcome a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five series in WNBA playoff history.
680K: Average ESPN viewership for Game 1 and 2 of this year’s Finals, the highest in 20 years and a 13% increase YoY. While the Game 2 blowout saw the lowest average viewership since 2020 (626K), a thrilling Game 3 Liberty comeback could result in larger television numbers for an all-important Game 4.
$39M: The cost of the WNBA’s current three-year media deal with Scripps, adding to its expansive media rights agreement with ESPN, which expires in 2025. The W has attracted new broadcasters such as Amazon Prime, CBS, and Meta, and given its viewership growth YoY, the league can expect to see more competition for future Finals’ presenting sponsors.
6: The number of sneaker brands worn by players in the WNBA Finals, including Breanna Stewart’s signature Puma shoe and Sabrina Ionescu’s Nike Sabrina 1s. Eleven other stars are sporting Nike, like A’ja Wilson, who donned LeBron 21s while LeBro sat courtside during Game 1.
