Sports
WNBA is entering a new era: Skyrocketing viewership, sold-out arenas, young stars
Sue Bird hopes that when she’s in her 50s and 60s, she can be like a former NBA player who currently throws out opinions on television. One model Bird sees for herself: Charles Barkley. She remembers multiple instances of hearing the Naismith Hall of Famer talk about his playing days on TNT’s “Inside the NBA.”
“He’s like, ‘Oh, I had to fly commercial. I didn’t have these charter flights.’ Or, ‘Oh, these guys are making $40 million. Like, my contract was only —I don’t know, $10 million.’ And he kind of sounds disgruntled,” Bird said on NPR’s Fresh Air last month.
She wants to one day be able to toss out back-in-my-day tales. “I’ve always joked, I hope I’m that disgruntled athlete because that means all the blood, sweat and tears was for something,” she said. “It means the game has grown.”
Bird retired after two decades in the WNBA following the 2022 season. She hasn’t been out of the league even two full years (Bird technically jumped back in this April when she joined the Storm’s ownership group), but the league she’ll watch this summer is already in a better place than it was when she retired.
Changes — both momentous and minute — are already aplenty as the 28th regular season begins Tuesday. For years, as Bird and recently retired Candace Parker graced the hardwood, the WNBA chipped away at areas of growth. But now the pace of the adjustments is explosive.
“To be very honest, the impact of the wave right now is more profound than I thought it was going to be,” Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel said. “It got to be a bigger wave a lot faster than what I think we projected it to be. And wow, I’ll say it feels amazing.”
“Expansions were always in the design. The moment has arrived where the investment matches, finally, us being able to put these ideas to fruition.”
—@chiney on the growth of the WNBA 📈 pic.twitter.com/Y6egBKMcgY
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 10, 2024
Television viewership numbers have skyrocketed across women’s basketball. April’s WNBA Draft averaged a record 2.47 million viewers, a 307 percent increase over last year, and it was the most-viewed WNBA telecast since 2000. The first preseason exhibition for Chicago Sky rookies Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso didn’t air on traditional television, but more than 500,000 viewers tuned in to a phone stream from a resourceful fan. It seems like a harbinger of what will come in the regular season, which tips off Tuesday.
“The growth is happening so fast,” said Cheryl Reeve, the Minnesota Lynx’s coach and president of basketball operations. “It’s so accelerated. And I’ve been saying this in our own organization, that business as usual isn’t going to work anymore.”
The early viewership returns reflect the strengthened link between the college and professional games. Cardoso and the South Carolina Gamecocks’ win over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2024 national championship game averaged 18.9 million viewers, making it the most viewed women’s college basketball game ever and the most viewed basketball game (college or professional in men’s or women’s basketball) since 2019. The tournament was up 121 percent from 2023.
With a high-profile rookie class entering the league, WNBA attendance is swelling, too. No team had ever sold out its season ticket package in the offseason, but three teams (Las Vegas, Atlanta and Dallas) did this year. Three games have also been moved to bigger venues to accommodate more fans who want to see Clark play.
How players arrive at those contests will be changing as well. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced last week that the league plans to add charter flights on a full-time basis sometime this season. The news came as the league’s existing charter policy appeared increasingly untenable in the long term.
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WNBA will add charter flights on full-time basis this season
Clark and her Indiana Fever teammates traveled to Dallas for their first preseason game on a commercial airline and were greeted by a few fans and media members. They experienced no travel or security issues on their first road trip of the year, according to a team spokesperson. But one video clip showing Clark and center Aliyah Boston passing by a luggage carousel, with a member of the organization’s security team present, gained more than 2 million views. It served as a reminder of their current conditions.
Engelbert was uncommitted about when exactly a full-charter program would be implemented. She said the new travel program, which will cost about $25 million per year for the next two seasons, will launch “as soon as we can logistically get planes in places.” Still, the news of private travel was cause for celebration.
Lynx guard Kayla McBride called the change “a breath of fresh air.” Minnesota forward Napheesa Collier noted that with viewership increasing across women’s basketball, it was imperative to make the adjustment to protect player privacy.
“All these players in these spaces are becoming so popular that it really is about (safety) as much as it’s about recovery,” she said.
Even before Engelbert’s announcement, franchises around the league recognized the importance of increasing security. According to a person with knowledge of the Chicago Sky’s plans, after not traveling with security last season, the franchise will travel with security this season. Every WNBA team will travel with security personnel on its commercial flights, for as long as they remain the standard.
There has also been additional security around the Sky at practices, which take place at a public facility in suburban Chicago. Sachs Recreation Center wrote in an email, obtained by The Athletic, to its community members that beginning April 29, two police officers would be onsite during all Sky practices for the remainder of the season. Their presence is new this year and the change appears likely to have been driven by the Sky’s desire to bolster its player safety.
Fever general manager Lin Dunn said Indiana was taking similar precautions to ensure every member of her franchise would be safe when flying commercial. In addition to having a full security team at home games, the Fever will be traveling with multiple full-time security members, employed by Pacers Sports and Entertainment, on all road trips, the team spokesperson added. Multiple members of their security team will also be present at ancillary team events, like they were at Indiana’s promotional photo shoot in downtown Indianapolis last week.
Those changes are reflective of a new era in the WNBA. Breanna Stewart, the No. 1 pick in 2016, recalled taking photos and signing autographs at airports without a security detail present during her rookie season.
The travel adjustments demonstrate a commitment to improving player experiences. New facilities provide another significant boost. By season’s end, the Storm and Mercury will have opened new spaces. The Storm debuted their 50,000-square foot performance center in April, equipped with state-of-the-art strength and conditioning equipment, a health and wellness suite, and an aquatics room — all of it designed and engineered by a group that was 85 percent women and people of color. The Mercury’s will be part of one of the largest developments for a professional sports organization in the country, according to the franchise. It is expected to open by the time they host the mid-July All-Star Game.
Our new home 💚⛈️ pic.twitter.com/DHjRvHFEFR
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) April 18, 2024
It should come as no surprise, then, that both added stars: Seattle signed 2016 league MVP Nneka Ogwumike and four-time first-team All-WNBA guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, while Phoenix bolstered its roster with 2021 Finals MVP Kahleah Copper and All-WNBA defensive team guard Natasha Cloud.
Having already become the first franchise to win consecutive titles in 21 years, the Las Vegas Aces will look to win a third straight this summer. Expect a standout season from their star, A’ja Wilson, who Nike announced on Saturday would be getting her own signature sneaker and clothing collection in 2025. Wilson is one of just over a dozen WNBA players ever to have a signature shoe and the first Black WNBA player to get a signature shoe since 2010.
All told, as Engelbert prepares to give the Aces their rings Tuesday night, she is glowing when thinking about the state of the WNBA. With league revenue having reportedly doubled since 2019, she said they have “huge investment” coming in through corporate and media partnerships. (The league’s existing media rights deal with ESPN ends after the 2025 season, and a new CBA could come into effect in 2026.) At April’s Draft, which was held in front of fans for the first time in eight years, feeling the positive momentum Engelbert said the WNBA was “ready for what’s next.”
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Expansion into new markets is part of what’s to come. A 13th franchise will begin play in the Bay Area in 2025, while a 14th team is reportedly set to launch in Toronto in 2026.
“We are witnessing a transformational moment in sports,” Engelbert said, “that we may not experience for generations.”
Bird, too, feels the added buzz. She said the sport has crossed a cultural cachet line. For that reason, it might not take Bird, 43, another seven years to become a semi-crotchety pundit. She might be able to tell stories about the old days before she even knows it.
(Photo of Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Temi Fagbenle: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
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LeBron James got the last laugh on Sunday night as he sank two free throws in the final 3.9 seconds to lift the Los Angeles Lakers over the Phoenix Suns, 116-114.
James may be in the twilight of his career, but he showed he still had some fight. He was battling with Suns forward Dillon Brooks throughout the night. The two got into multiple skirmishes as the intensity was turned up a notch.
Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks fouls Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. Brooks was ejected from the game after the foul. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
As the game came down to the wire, Brooks hit a clutch 3-pointer to put the Suns up one point with 12.2 seconds left. James ran through him and knocked him down. Brooks got back up and stuck his chest out to ever-so-gently tap James.
A referee came over to stop the conflict from escalating any further. Brooks was ejected from the game.
“I just like to compete,” James said of going up against Brooks, via ESPN. “He’s going to compete. I’m going to compete. We’re going to get up in each other’s face. Try not to go borderline with it. I don’t really take it there. But we’re just competing and did that almost all the way to the end of the game.”
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Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) and Los Angeles Lakers forward Lebron James (23) react after a turnover during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Suns star Devin Booker supported Brooks’ intensity.
“Yeah, I mean there’s history there,” he said. “I love to see it. People always say everything’s too friendly in the NBA and then Dillon comes around and now it’s too much. So like I said, I’d rather it the other way — that it’d be too much.”
James scored 26 points on 8-of-17 from the field. Luka Doncic led Los Angeles with 29 points and six assists. The Lakers improved to 18-7 with the win.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) looks to shoot over Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, front left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
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Brooks had 18 points in 25 minutes. Booker led the team with 27 points and was 13-of-16 from the free-throw line. Phoenix is 14-12 on the year.
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Who’s going to beat them?
Who’s going to stop the unstoppable offense? Who’s going to score on the persistent defense? Who’s going to outwit the coaching genius?
Who can possibly halt the Rams on their thunderous march toward a Super Bowl championship?
After yet another jaw-dropping Sunday afternoon at a raucous SoFi Stadium, the answer was clear.
Nobody.
Nobody can spar with the Rams. Nobody can run with the Rams. Nobody can compete with the Rams.
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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 41-34 victory over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
Nobody is talented enough or deep enough or smart enough to keep the Rams from winning their second Super Bowl championship in five years.
Nobody. It’s over. It’s done. The Rams are going to win it all, and before you cry jinx, understand that this is just putting into words what many already are thinking.
The Rams’ second-half domination of the Detroit Lions in a 41-34 win should again make the rest of the league realize that nobody else has a chance.
The Seahawks? Please. The 49ers? No way. The Eagles? They’ve been grounded. The Bears? Is that some kind of a joke?
The Patriots? Not yet. The Broncos? Not yet. The Bills? Not ever.
The Rams trailed by 10 points at one juncture Sunday and then blew the Lions’ doors off in the second half to clinch a playoff berth for the seventh time in nine seasons under Sean McVay, setting them up for the easiest ride in sports.
With a win in Seattle on Thursday night — and, yes, they should beat a team that just barely survived Old Man Rivers — the Rams essentially will clinch the NFC’s top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
That means they have to win only two games at SoFi to advance to a Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. That means they can win a championship without leaving California, three games played in the sort of perfect climate that gets the best out of their precision attack.
And as Sunday proved once again, they’re good enough to win three essentially home playoff games against anybody.
“I love this team,” McVay said.
There’s a lot to love.
They have an MVP quarterback, the league’s most versatile two-headed running attack, an interior defense that gets stronger under pressure, and the one weapon that no team can match.
They have Puka Nacua, and nobody else does.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua is tackled by Detroit cornerback Amik Robertson during the second half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Is he unbelievable or what? He is Cooper Kupp in his prime, only faster and stronger. He caught a career-high 181 yards’ worth of passes on yet another day when he could not be covered and barely could be tackled.
“He’s unbelievable,” McVay said. “He’s so tough, a couple of times he just drags guys with him … he epitomizes everything we want to be about … he’s like Pac-Man, he just eats up yards and catches.”
Pac-Man? The Rams even score on their old-school references.
In all, it was another Sunday of totally fun football.
They outscored the league’s highest-scoring team 20-0 at one point, they outrushed the league’s toughest backfield 159-70, they racked up 519 total yards against a team once thought destined for a championship.
And they did it with barely a smile. With the exception of Nacua repeatedly banging his fist to his chest — can you blame him? — the Rams are steady and steadfast and just so scary.
”All we want to do is go to work and find a way to be better,” said Matthew Stafford, who likely answered the crowd’s chants by clinching the MVP award with 368 yards and two touchdown passes. “It’s a fun group right now but we understand there’s more out there for us.”
Lots, lots, lots more.
This year a similar column appeared in this space regarding the Dodgers. By the first round of the playoffs, one just knew that they were going to run the table.
The same feeling exists here. The Rams look unrelenting, unfazed, unbeatable.
“Guys just kept competing, staying in the moment,” McVay said.
This moment belongs to them. One knew it Sunday by the end of the first half, which featured a Stafford interception and a struggling secondary and Jared Goff’s vengeful greatness and a 10-point Lions lead.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford passes in the first half of a 41-34 win over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Then the Rams drove the ball nearly half of the field in 30 seconds in a push featuring Stafford and Nacua at their best. Stafford connected with Nacua on a brilliant 37-yard pass in the final moments that led to a Harrison Mevis 37-yard field goal to close the gap to seven.
“Right before that I told the guys, ‘Let’s go steal three,’” Stafford said.
Turns out, they stole a game.
“One of the key and critical sequences,” McVay said of that late first-half hammer, which led to a dazzling third quarter that finished the flustered Lions.
“We never panic,” Blake Corum said. “Because we know … what we have to bring to the table.”
What they’ve increasingly been bringing is a running attack that perfectly complements the awesome passing attack, as evidenced Sunday by Corum and Kyren Williams combining for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
The Lions’ more vaunted backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery? Seventy yards and one score.
“We push each other to the limit,” Corum said of Williams.
Rams running back Kyren Williams stiff-arms Detroit Lions safety Erick Hallett II during the first half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Potentially disturbing was how one noted Ram may have pushed past his limits, as receiver Davante Adams limped off the field early in the fourth quarter after apparently reinjuring his troublesome hamstring.
To lose him for the playoffs would be devastating, as he frees up space for Nacua and is almost an automatic touchdown from the five-yard line and closer.
Then again he’ll have a month to heal. And the Rams still have a bruising array of tight ends led Sunday by the touchdown-hot Colby Parkinson, who caught 75 yards’ worth of passes and two scores, including one inexplicable touchdown in which he clearly was down at the one-yard line.
The Rams got lucky there. But even if the right call was made, they would have scored on the next couple of plays. The way the Rams attacked, they could have been scoring all night.
“You knew that it was going to be that kind of game where there was some good back-and-forth,” McVay said. “You needed to be able to know that points were going to be really important for us, and our guys delivered in a big way.”
Just wait. By the time this season is done, McVay’s guys will have delivered a trophy representing something much bigger.
It rhymes with Strombardi.
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Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes will be out for the rest of the season as he suffered a torn ACL on Sunday in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, according to multiple reports.
Mahomes’ knee buckled while he was scrambling and as he was getting hit by Chargers defensive end Da’Shawn Hand. He was helped off the field and he limped to the locker room. An MRI reportedly confirmed the extent of the damage.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes grabs his knee after being injured during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
The quarterback wrote a message to fans as word of his injury trickled out.
“Don’t know why this had to happen,” Mahomes wrote on X. “And not going to lie (it) hurts. But all we can do now is Trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you Chiefs kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I Will be back stronger than ever.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid offered a gloomy outlook for Mahomes as he spoke to reporters following the loss.
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Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Odafe Oweh (98) sacks Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 14, 2025. (Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images)
“… It didn’t look good,” Reid said when asked whether he knew if Mahomes’ injury was serious. “I mean you guys saw it. We’ll just see where it goes.”
The loss to the Chargers also meant the Chiefs will not be making the postseason. Kansas City made it to the AFC Championship each season since 2018. They made it to the Super Bowl in each of the last three seasons, winning two titles in that span.
Mahomes will finish the season with 3,398 passing yards and 22 touchdown passes.
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Kansas City is 6-8 on the year.
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