The WNBA is not only seeing a huge increase in television ratings and ticket sales, but also in the secondary market.
Logitix, a ticketing platform, released a report that monitors multiple secondary ticket exchanges for WNBA games. Among its findings is that the average resale price of a ticket, excluding ticket fees, has increased to $87.75 for the first half of the 2024 season, up from $50.10 for the 2023 season. While there’s no doubt that Caitlin Clark’s arrival has led to the jump, the average resale price for games not involving her Indiana Fever still rises to $61.36 per ticket.
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“Our analysis of WNBA ticketing trends reveals a compelling story,” said Travis Apple, Chief Revenue Officer at Logitix. “The growing focus on women’s basketball is driving dramatic demand for live games, with this surge in interest evident across the league.”
A key finding of the report is that Clark isn’t as big a draw at home — at least on the secondary market — as she is away from home. The Fever leads the league in average resale prices for away teams with $160.09, compared to an average price of $77.02 at home in Gainbridge Fieldhouse. One factor in that disparity: Season-ticket packages sold out quickly when Clark declared for the WNBA Draft in March, as she was rightly assumed to be the league’s top pick for the Fever. Fewer seats for single-game sales limits the number of tickets available on the secondary market.
Clark isn’t the only draw in the league, rookie or not. Fans come to see the Chicago Sky, who drafted fellow rookie and double-double machine Angel Reese and her former SEC rival Kamilla Cardoso. The Sky rank second in average secondary road ticket price at $115.72 and lead the WNBA in average home resale ticket price at $129.93. The Sky’s home ticket price so far this season is nearly three times higher than the team’s 2023 resale value at $46.04. In other words, much to the chagrin of her detractors, Reese was right when she said Clark isn’t the only rookie fans want to see.
Beyond the rookie draws are the two teams battling for league supremacy in 2023, the reigning back-to-back league champions Las Vegas Aces and the team they defeated for last year’s title, the New York Liberty. While the Fever and Sky are far ahead of the rest in road tickets, the Aces ($89.59) and Liberty ($76.23) rank third and fourth in Logitix’s rankings of the 12 WNBA franchises as of Monday night. New York has the third-most expensive home tickets on the secondary market at $103.96, up $32 from a season ago. Compare that to the Aces, whose secondary tickets for home games average $72.60, behind only Phoenix and Minnesota.
Logitix monitors ticket sales for teams in the four major North American men’s leagues, as well as the NCAA and WNBA. The company uses the data to help its client teams develop pricing strategies to sell more tickets. As for the WNBA, Logitix claims that in addition to the increase in average price, resale transaction volume has already tripled compared to 2023.
Clark and the Fever have accounted for nine of the top 10 games by average ticket price so far this season, including the most expensive resale ticket at $280.43 for the second meeting with the Sky on June 23. Only one of those games was at home, when the Fever hosted the Sky nearly three weeks earlier on June 1. That game, which had an average resale ticket value of $146.52, featured the infamous Chicago Chennedy Carter foul that sent the media into a frenzy for nearly two weeks over how Clark has been treated by competitors in her early career.
Second on the list is Sunday’s game between the Fever and Phoenix Mercury, with Clark taking on WNBA legend Diana Taurasi. Tickets on resale went for $194.26.
The only non-Fever game in the top 10 was the Sky against the Washington Mystics on June 14. While Chicago brought fans to arenas across the league, it helped that the Mystics are going through an ugly rebuild and are without the services of former MVP Elena Delle Donne.
Despite a league-worst 4-15 record, Washington has the second-best average price for a second home in the league at $129.47. That puts Washington just behind Sky in 2024 and nearly $60 more expensive than the team’s 2023 price.
The Mystics were perhaps buoyed by the W’s best ticket promotion: the “Brunch and Basketball” campaign, where fans could enjoy bottomless mimosas, chicken and waffles and other brunch classics for $105. Tickets for all four games against Seattle, Dallas, Las Vegas and Atlanta promptly sold out.
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