NEW YORK: Five years ago, the New York Liberty were used to playing games in a deserted, 2,100-capacity arena out in the suburbs, a world away from the bright lights of the Big Apple. But when the star-studded WNBA team steps out at a packed Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Tuesday they will do so as one of the hottest tickets in town, as surging interest in women’s basketball this season ushers in a new era for the sport.

“I go to a lot of sporting events, and nothing beats the energy here,” longtime Liberty season ticket holder Lolita Beckwith told AFP. Beckwith, a professional photographer, has been following the team since the WNBA was launched in 1997.

Her 27-year allegiance to the Liberty has encompassed the team’s early days, when they played games at the legendary Madison Square Garden, to the bleak era when the team was exiled to the suburban city of White Plains, closer to Connecticut than Brooklyn.

“It’s just great because for 27 years, it was looked down upon,” Beckwith said as she reflected on a sea of green-shirted Liberty fans thronging the arena. “No one watched, there weren’t many fans. It was mostly women and kids. So to see it become what it is now is just absolutely amazing,” she added.

“I wish I had a daughter so I could bring her to the games.” While the Liberty’s success on the court has undoubtedly boosted the team’s appeal, the jump in crowd sizes are part of a broader trend in a league that has enjoyed skyrocketing interest since the arrival of rookie phenomenon Caitlin Clark.

Indiana Fever star Clark has taken the WNBA by storm this year after a record-breaking US collegiate career. This season the Liberty have rewarded the loyalty of fans such as Beckwith with the best regular season in the franchise’s history. The team, spearheaded by the likes of Olympic gold medallists Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart, finished top of the WNBA’s Eastern Conference with 32 wins and only eight defeats.

With the playoffs under way, the team is perfectly positioned to end its long wait for a first ever WNBA championship. On Sunday the Liberty demolished the Atlanta Dream 83-69 in game one of their opening playoff series. “To have the crowd that we had here definitely made it a lot easier,” US Olympic team star Stewart said after the win.

Attendances surge

During the regular season, New York averaged more than 12,000 fans per game, a whopping 64% increase on the 2023 average, which itself had surged 45% from the 2022 campaign. Those kinds of ticket sales will be music to the ears of owner Joe Tsai, the Taiwanese-Canadian billionaire co-founder and chairman of Chinese multinational firm Alibaba, who purchased the team in 2019 with his wife Clara Wu Tsai, and who also owns the Brooklyn Nets NBA team as well as the Barclays Center itself.

“Two years ago, we could barely fill the lower bowl,” said Liberty fan Justin Tartamella, 27. These days, thousands of fans flock to the arena wearing sneakers in the Liberty’s colors as well as T-shirts bearing the slogan “Everyone watches women’s sports.” Other fans, meanwhile, line-up to take selfies with the team’s mascot, Ellie the Elephant, whose TikTok account has nearly 180,000 followers. For some fans, Liberty games are an increasingly attractive option in a New York sporting landscape already studded with iconic men’s franchises. Baseball has the New York Yankees and the Mets, the NBA has the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets, while the NFL offers New York Giants and New York Jets.

Adam Reid, a 35-year-old computer programmer who recently opted for a Liberty game over a Mets fixture, explained the team’s appeal. “You can get very close-up seats for an affordable price, compared to a very high up seat to the baseball game,” Reid told AFP. “And they’ve been a blast.”

The inclusivity of the WNBA has also drawn in fans. “Historically, it’s been very LGBTQ+ friendly, which is really important,” said David Smith, a 51-year-old consultant. “As a gay man, this is where I feel the most welcome.”

Indiana’s Clark, meanwhile, has helped boost the Fever’s average crowds this season to more than 17,000 per game, with a record 20,000 fans turning out for one fixture. Those kinds of figures are translating to big business off the court: in late July, the WNBA announced a new 11-year broadcast contract worth an estimated $200 million per season — more than triple the previous amount. The WNBA is also preparing to expand the league, with three new franchises joining the competition in coming seasons. — AFP