Some 3.79 million fans attended WNBA games in 2026, a 20 % increase from the previous year, according to a Sports Business Journal analysis. The jump reflects growing interest in women’s basketball across the United States and Canada.

To accommodate the higher demand, the league moved 25 games to larger arenas. Eight of the 15 teams filled at least 90 % of their seats on average, and the league’s overall average attendance capacity reached 83 %.

The Toronto Tempo, the league’s first Canadian franchise, helped illustrate the new appetite for the sport. In July, the Tempo attracted 20,996 spectators to the Bell Centre in Montreal, the biggest regular‑season crowd in WNBA history.

Experts say the surge is also linked to star power and pandemic‑era exposure. Ann Pegoraro, the Lang chair in sport management at the University of Guelph, noted that the 2020 “Wubble” season let fans watch the game from home and discover its quality, while players like Caitlin Clark have drawn additional followers.

The Atlanta Dream is planning to build on the momentum. The team announced it will play all of its 2027 home games at State Farm Arena, a 16,888‑seat NBA venue, after reporting more than 400 % growth in season‑ticket members over the past five years. “State Farm Arena gives us the opportunity to welcome thousands of additional fans while creating an even bigger stage for women’s basketball in Atlanta,” said Morgan Shaw Parker, the Dream’s president.

Together, star athletes, new markets, larger venues and the lingering visibility from the pandemic have created a “hockey‑stick” growth curve, as Cheri Bradish, an associate professor and director of the Future of Sport Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, explained. The league’s record attendance shows how quickly women’s sports can expand when the right conditions align.