Latest news with #2025WNBAPreview
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Paige Bueckers Getting Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese Treatment
You do not have to look far to see the similarities between WNBA stars Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark. As the last two No. 1 overall draft picks, both players made history in college basketball before bringing legions of fans from the UConn Huskies to the Dallas Wings and from the Iowa Hawkeyes to the Indiana Fever, respectively. Advertisement Both entertaining guards will feature prominently in the WNBA's opening weekend of the 2025 regular season. Bueckers makes her professional debut on Friday night against the Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 p.m. ET on ION. Clark follows on Saturday with Indiana's season opener at 3 p.m. ET on ABC against another WNBA showstopper — Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky. Paige Bueckers is interviewed by ESPN after being selected with the number one overall pick to the Dallas Wings in the 2025 WNBA Carchietta-Imagn Images Amid the Fever-Sky showdown and other marquee contests like the Golden State Valkyries' first game against the Los Angeles Sparks and the rematch of the past two WNBA champs between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty, SLAM magazine left little doubt what it is looking forward to this weekend. Advertisement The famous hoops publication awarded Bueckers and her Wings teammates a special edition cover for its 2025 WNBA season preview, putting her star power in orbit much like Clark and Reese early in their pro careers. Bueckers may not be the best player on the team — that would be all-WNBA guard Arike Ogunbowale, who is rightfully front and center of the SLAM cover. All three players, including free agent pickup DiJonai Carrington, got their own unique digital covers as well. The truth is, Ogunbowale was not putting the 9-31 Wings on news stands last season. Fairly or not, that kind of marketing power has followed some of the league's youngest stars. Advertisement Clark and Reese are joint cover stars of Athlon Sports' 2025 WNBA Preview, following the commemorative edition Athlon made to celebrate Clark's record-breaking 2024 Rookie of the Year campaign. The Fever star also graced the cover of TIME as its 2024 Athlete of the Year, while Reese's catalogue of cover shoots includes Vogue and SLAM's 250th edition. "It's crazy, I went from being the oldest and I guess the vet on the UConn team to being the youngest here, or one of the youngest,' Bueckers told SLAM ahead of her WNBA Debut. 'I'm [continuing] to stay humble, stay hungry and working to be the best teammate, best leader I can be, [and] working to find my voice. Obviously, I don't have as much experience, but I still feel like I have a lot of knowledge and wisdom for the game and a lot of love for it.' Advertisement Related: Fans Waste No Time Comparing Paige Bueckers to Caitlin Clark Related: Caitlin Clark Gets Big Reality Check From Indiana Fever Coach
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Golden State Valkyries Tip Off WNBA's Expansion Era
[Editor's note: This article is from Athlon Sports' 2025 WNBA Preview print magazine. Order your copy today online, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.] Minnesota Lynx president of basketball operations and head coach Cheryl Reeve always believed that the WNBA would be in the strong position it is in now. Advertisement The Golden State Valkyries will begin play this year, the WNBA's first expansion franchise in 17 years, and then two more expansion franchises — the Toronto Tempo and the currently unnamed Portland franchise — will officially arrive in 2026. The league that many believed was an afterthought or former NBA commissioner David Stern's vanity project is also currently at the center of a giant bidding war that consists of 13 city bids for the next expansion franchise. According to the Sports Business Journal, Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavaliers ownership group are the front-runners for the league's 16th franchise, one that would revive the Cleveland Rockers, an original WNBA franchise that folded in 2003. The bidding war for the 16th team has been so competitive that the league is considering expanding its initial plan of 16 teams by 2028 to as many as 18 by 2030. Athlon's 2025 WNBA team previews: Aces | Dream | Fever | Liberty | Lynx | Mercury | Mystics | Sky | Sparks | Storm | Sun | Valkyries | Wings Golden State Valkyries center Temi Fagbenle is seen during her team's preseason game against the Phoenix Mercury at PHX Arena on May J. Rebilas-Imagn Images 'This is something that those of us that have been in it have always believed,' Reeve told Athlon Sports. 'If things were done a certain way, then our time was coming, I've always believed.' Advertisement Reeve, who has been on a WNBA sideline since the league's fifth season in 2001, saw two original franchises she was a part of — the Rockers and the Charlotte Sting — dissolve after a few years of operation. After that, she was an assistant coach for four years with the Detroit Shock, a team that moved twice and then rebranded after original owner and former Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson passed away in 2009. The Detroit Shock became the Tulsa Shock in 2010, and then five years later, new majority owner Bill Cameron moved the Shock to Dallas, where the franchise took on its current name of the Dallas Wings. By 2009, over seven seasons, the league had lost five teams, relocated three and added two — the Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream, the most recent expansion team before the Valkyries. The WNBA shrunk from as many as 16 teams in 2000 to 12 going into the 2010 season. Given that turbulent history, what is behind the WNBA's current expansion boom? And how has the league learned from its history so that it doesn't repeat it? A Complicated Journey The WNBA's expansion road hasn't always been smooth. Advertisement Initially, eight NBA owners financed the original eight WNBA teams, including the three that remain today (Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury and New York Liberty). The others were the Rockers, Sting, Utah Starzz (which, after moving twice and changing ownership hands twice, became today's Las Vegas Aces), the Sacramento Monarchs and the league's first dynasty, the Houston Comets. After the inaugural 1997 season, the WNBA added eight more teams in three seasons. By the turn of the century — when the WNBA was still considered a novelty — the league had grown by 100%. In just three years, the league added the Shock, Washington Mystics, Minnesota Lynx, Orlando Miracle, Indiana Fever, Miami Sol, Portland Fire and Seattle Storm. Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase speaks to her team during a preseason game against the Phoenix Mercury at PHX Arena on May J. Rebilas-Imagn Images In hindsight, the league expanded too quickly, and two years later, in 2002, the league's business structure changed as a result of the burst of the dot-com bubble. Advertisement In October of that year, the NBA Board of Governors voted to allow outside ownership groups to buy and run WNBA teams. Also, instead of the league paying the players and finding corporate sponsorships, that onus now fell to the team owners. A little over a year later, three WNBA franchises folded — the Fire, Sol and Rockers. Simply put, the return on investment wasn't happening quickly enough, especially after the financial markets had been rocked. 'I have invested in it now for seven years trying to find a business model for it to work in our marketplace,' former Rockers owner Gordon Gund said at the time. 'The fans we had were very enthusiastic and very supportive. We just didn't have enough.' Reeve says that not all NBA ownership groups were sold on Stern's long-term vision, adding that the former NBA commissioner 'twisted arms' to get the league up and running. Advertisement Just six years later, in 2008, the Great Recession hit. The crash of the housing market and investment banks led to the eventual fall of the Comets and Monarchs, two more original WNBA franchises. 'The WNBA was not valued during that time,' Reeve says. 'Those years, it was an afterthought. It was, get it off the books, get it clean.' In addition to the decrease in the total number of WNBA teams, rosters also were chopped to aid the flailing business model. Teams initially had 13 players per roster, but in 2009, that number dwindled down to 11. The 2010s in the WNBA saw zero expansion and two franchise relocations and re-brands. Dynamic college talent — including Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Elena Delle Donne, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum and A'ja Wilson — all entered the league, but narratives still focused on the league's lack of mainstream appeal and viability. Also, there often was a marketing and coverage gap when those players moved from college to the pros. Advertisement Talk focused on why the league continued to struggle financially and why its ratings fell. Former NBA players even suggested that the rims should be lowered so that women could dunk and draw in more fans. (Those suggestions unfortunately are also still made today.) Golden State Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton (5) celebrates a 3-pointer with teammates during their preseason game against the Phoenix Mercury at PHX Arena on May J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Turning Point During the WNBA's adolescence, the league cycled through five presidents, including two interims, before hiring former Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert as the league's first official commissioner in the middle of the 2019 season. And since her first WNBA All-Star Game as commissioner on July 27, 2019, she has fielded questions about expansion. Advertisement Engelbert's first priority, though, was to overhaul the league's business model and make sure each franchise could produce a return on investment. 'If we're successful in growing the league and the brand and getting our 12 franchises where they need to be from a financial model perspective, certainly that's something that we'd talk about and is on the list,' she said at her first WNBA All-Star Game. But after the league raised $75 million in capital from investors inside and outside the league, Engelbert turned her eyes to expansion in 2022. The league used many market research methods to begin its expansion process, including what Engelbert referred to as 'psychographics, demographics, NCAA fandom, current WNBA fandom, merch sales and viewership' in cities without WNBA franchises. The league continued to drop hints about expansion throughout the 2023 season. The WNBA held a preseason game in Toronto between the Lynx and Sky that sold out. Was that the first test of how a WNBA franchise could perform outside of the United States? It sure was. Flashing forward to July, Engelbert revealed at the All-Star Game in Las Vegas that she'd have expansion news later in the season. The Athletic reported in late September that the owners of the NBA's Golden State Warriors were closing in on bringing a WNBA team to the Bay Area. Days later, the league made it official. Advertisement On the day that the WNBA officially announced that Golden State would be the spot for the league's 13th team, there were rumblings about how Portland most likely was going to get the next expansion franchise. The Next's Howard Megdal reported that discussions about Portland had reached the board of governors level. But then, less than a month later, the plans fell through, and reports surfaced about disagreements between Engelbert and prospective owner Kirk Brown over team branding and a conflict of interest involving a basketball training center Brown owned. Shyanne Sellers poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected with the No. 17 overall pick by the Golden State Valkyries in the 2025 WNBA Draft in New York on April Carchietta-Imagn Images But then, in 2024, the two cities that had seemed out of the picture came back into it. On May 23, the WNBA announced that Larry Tanenbaum, the chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, would own and lead Toronto's new WNBA team. Tanenbaum would operate the team now known as the Toronto Tempo via a new group called Kilmer Sports Ventures that Tanenbaum founded himself. After internal disagreements with other MLSE shareholders, Tanenbaum decided to take matters into his own hands and preserve his goal of bringing a WNBA team to Canada. Less than four months later, a Portland franchise was back on the table, but this time it would be awarded to Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal of RAJ Sports. The Bhathal family are investors in the Sacramento Kings and own the NWSL's Portland Thorns. Advertisement There are criteria that these three new WNBA ownership groups and their cities all meet. First, all three cities have a vibrant women's sports community. The San Francisco Bay Area, which had embraced Stanford women's basketball, was a community that had been starved for a WNBA team. In 2023, Toronto sold out a single preseason game at Scotiabank Arena, which has a capacity of around 20,000 people. Portland is not only home to the Thorns but also to The Sports Bra, the first-ever sports bar that is dedicated to showing women's sports. Second, these ownership groups made bids that have included promises to build practice facilities in addition to home arena availability in spaces that are up to professional standards. Unlike the days of teams flying commercial, there's now an arms race among current WNBA franchises when it comes to having the best player amenities and team-specific practice facilities. And third, these ownership groups have experience running professional sports teams. Joe Lacob, the primary owner of the Golden State Warriors, has overseen a men's professional basketball dynasty. Tanenbaum is the chairman of the NBA's board of governors and played a major role in bringing the Toronto Raptors to the NBA. The Bhathal family of RAJ sports has been in the professional sports space since 2013. The WNBA's current round of expansion after a 17-year hiatus has been intentional and strategic. There's now an understanding that investment from ownership and developing corporate sponsorship matters when trying to grow a successful business venture. The league has learned from its past mistakes. Advertisement 'There's a much better opportunity because the doors have been opened, the eyes have been opened to what's possible,' Reeve says. 'How many commercials do we see with female athletes in them now? That never happened before, right?' Kaitlyn Chen poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected with the No. 30 overall pick by the Golden State Valkyries in the WNBA Draft in New York on April Carchietta-Imagn Images What to expect from the Golden State Valkyries in Year 1 When the Golden State franchise announced the hiring of former Angel City revenue chief Jess Smith as team president, there was already an expectation that the WNBA's first expansion team in 17 years was going to make a deep impression. Angel City FC, the NWSL Los Angeles franchise, had become a hot ticket in L.A. When Angel City debuted in April 2022, the new NWSL franchise had sold more than 15,400 season tickets before its first kick. The franchise created its momentum by leaning heavily into branding, investing in team staff, community building and aggressively seeking corporate sponsorships. Advertisement Golden State wanted Smith to bring that successful approach to the Bay Area, and so far she has. On March 26, the Valkyries announced that they had passed the 10,000 season-ticket mark prior to the start of their inaugural season in May. Previously the Valkyries had become the first women's sports franchise to surpass 15,000 season-ticket deposits. On the branding front, the franchise has applied to trademark the term 'Ballhalla,' a direct reference to the term Valhalla. The team nickname of Valkyries, warrior women who fly through the air and sea, comes from Norse mythology, and Valhalla is the main dwelling place of Norse gods. The branding also includes the franchise's bold violet color. On the basketball operations side, Lacob hired former New York Liberty assistant general manager Ohemaa Nyanin as general manager, and then Nyanin hired Las Vegas Aces assistant coach Natalie Nakase as the franchise's first head coach. The hires were lauded around the WNBA, as both Nyanin and Nakase came from the two franchises that have won the past three WNBA championships. But regardless of how qualified both Nyanin and Nakase are for the work ahead of them, not many WNBA executives have experience building a team from the ground up. Advertisement Lacob has made it very clear that he wants the franchise to win a championship within the Valkyries' first five seasons, something that no WNBA expansion franchise has ever done before. Nyanin and Nakase's strategy in December's expansion draft, the first in almost two decades, was to draft players who could play a more modern style, were athletic, could shoot 3-pointers and play with grit on defense while also embodying competitiveness and character. Their options were limited, as the other 12 franchises had lists of protected players. As a result, Golden State selected a lot of role players and international talent, including Kayla Thornton, Kate Martin, Julie Vanloo and Temi Fagbenle. Golden State's top player will be 12-year veteran Tiffany Hayes, a two-way wing with boundless energy and athleticism. Hayes spent the 2024 season playing for the Aces and won the Sixth Woman of the Year Award. Watch for Hayes to have an excellent season with an offense built around her. Can the first expansion franchise in 17 years have a record above .500? Historically, that's been difficult to achieve. The Atlanta Dream went 4-30 in their inaugural season. The Sky debuted in 2006 with a 5-29 record. Advertisement But that won't dampen the energy and excitement surrounding the Valkyries in Year 1. 'The enthusiasm in Golden State is going to be off the charts,' Reeve said. 'People will remember when a team is awarded a franchise, how incredibly exciting and exhilarating it is for the city.' Athlon's 2025 WNBA team previews: Aces | Dream | Fever | Liberty | Lynx | Mercury | Mystics | Sky | Sparks | Storm | Sun | Valkyries | Wings Related: Athlon Sports 2025 WNBA Preview Magazine Available Now Related: Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese Usher in WNBA's Golden Era Related: Caitlin Clark Is Rested, Ready to Be Her Best After Offseason Recharge
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why the WNBA's Economic Momentum Is at Stake in 2025
[Editor's note: This article is from Athlon Sports' 2025 WNBA Preview print magazine. Order your copy today online, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.] A WNBA Finals series in which both Game 1 and the decisive fifth game required overtime to settle things. A fiercely contested championship round for the ages that saw three of the five games decided by three points or fewer. Advertisement The New York Liberty's down-to-the-wire scrap with the Minnesota Lynx in the 2024 WNBA Finals won't soon be forgotten. Yet it's likewise true that talk about October 2025 and what might happen in The W this fall has already begun. No matter how things turn out with the first Liberty title defense in franchise history, Oct. 31, 2025, looms as a monumental date on the calendar. Halloween, you see, is the last day before the league's current collective bargaining agreement expires. If a new labor deal is not hashed out between now and then, things could get truly unsettling, if not full-on scary, for WNBA players who would face the immediate threat of a lockout. There's a sense among some observers that the players' decision to opt out of the current contract last October and move up the negotiating timetable on a new labor pact with the league has already fundamentally changed the WNBA. Advertisement From the player perspective: Signing one-year contracts became the norm in free agency this past offseason in the hope that much more appealing contract numbers await starting in 2026. Twenty-one of last season's 24 All-Stars, in fact, are poised to become unrestricted free agents after the 2025 season. Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride drives toward the basket as New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones (35) and guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) defend during Game 3 of the WNBA Finals at Target Center on Oct. 16, Krohn-Imagn Images From the team perspective: Players still on their rookie-scale deals under the old system have become a treasured-like-never-before commodity. Notre Dame's Olivia Miles, meanwhile, made the headline-grabbing decision in late March to hold off on entering the WNBA Draft — despite her projected status as the likely No. 2 overall pick behind UConn's Paige Bueckers — to enter the NCAA's transfer portal and capitalize on one more year of lucrative NIL eligibility with a move to TCU. Advertisement 'I don't think players are dreading what lies ahead this season and into 2026,' says player agent Allison Galer, founder and president of the Los Angeles-based Disrupt The Game agency. 'It's really more of a new opportunity that people are looking forward to. I don't think it's a nervous time. I think it's more excitement and anticipation. 'Players have more options than they've ever had.' Athlon's 2025 WNBA team previews: Aces | Dream | Fever | Liberty | Lynx | Mercury | Mystics | Sky | Sparks | Storm | Sun | Valkyries | Wings That was evident on the eve of the WNBA Draft in mid-April when Bueckers landed a lucrative contract with the Unrivaled 3v3 league contested from January through March. Bueckers' Unrivaled deal for a 10-week season reportedly features a first-year salary said to exceed the value of her entire four-year WNBA rookie contract after being selected No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings. Advertisement Galer sees the increase in options first-hand with a client list that includes two-time All-Star Kelsey Mitchell of the Indiana Fever, New York's Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and 2024's No. 5 overall pick, Jacy Sheldon of the Connecticut Sun. And as anyone associated with the league will eagerly note: The WNBA's popularity is at an all-time high. Viewership figures set records in 2024 as the Fever's Caitlin Clark delivered a stunning debut season that helped spark unprecedented interest. Or, in the words of nine-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike: 'A transformational moment.' The Seattle Storm forward doubles as union president for WNBA players. Now in her third term and thus making her third career foray into labor talks, Ogwumike expressed confidence in a recent phone interview with Athlon Sports that common ground would ultimately be found with league officials on a new deal. 'We know that we are going to come to an agreement [eventually],' Ogwumike said. 'That's the goal at least.' Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike is interviewed by reporter Nikki Kay after a game at Arena in Los Angeles on July 16, Lee-Imagn Images When asked about last season's surge in fan interest and the likelihood it would carry over, Ogwumike added: 'I'm excited to see some more [of that] energy as we enter the 2025 season and as we look forward to what a transformational CBA could be.' Advertisement Much is made of WNBA salaries in comparison not just to NBA riches but the six- and seven-figure amounts that top players in the college game can now command thanks to the influx of NIL funds. The WNBA minimum salary in 2025 for players with three-plus years of service is $78,831, with a standard maximum contract topping out at $214,466. A WNBA 'supermax' deal — at the highest possible salary figure as commanded by players such as Las Vegas' Jackie Young and Indiana's Mitchell — is valued at $249,244 for this season. Yet the true source of envy for WNBA players when eyeing their NBA counterparts is the annual revenue split. NBA players essentially enjoy a 50-50 split of what is known as basketball-related income with the league's 30 franchises and their owners. In the 13-team WNBA, players receive a BRI split of roughly 10%, as revealed in a May 2024 article in The Players' Tribune by Ogwumike's sister, ESPN analyst and former WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike. 'We're not asking for the same salaries as the men,' Minnesota's Napheesa Collier recently told CBS Sports' 'We Need To Talk NOW' podcast. 'We're asking for the same revenue shares. And that's where the big difference is. We get such a small percentage of revenue share right now that affects our salary. So we're asking essentially for a bigger cut of that — more equitable to what the men's revenue share is. It wouldn't get us anywhere close to their salaries; we're not asking for the same salaries. We're asking for the same cut of the pie of what is made in our league.' Nneka Ogwumike acknowledged to Athlon Sports that 'we're very much in the beginning stages' of labor talks. There are a number of points of emphasis for the upcoming negotiations, including: ensuring that last season's introduction of charter air travel league-wide becomes an every-team, every-game standard; securing improved practice facilities; and negotiating increased benefits and opportunities in areas such as mental health, retirement, offseason employment, child care and family planning. Advertisement Yet Ogwumike was clear that addressing 'salary compensation is at the top' of the players' priority list. It would certainly appear that there is far more revenue to split than there once was. As part of the NBA's new monster media rights deal with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon — a deal worth a reported $76 billion over 11 years starting with the 2025-26 season — it secured a new WNBA television package with the same partners over the same span worth a reported $2.2 billion. It's also believed that future agreements with separate media rights partners could take the overall value of the WNBA's media rights deals into the $3 billion ballpark. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert presents a Dallas Wings jersey to No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers at the 2025 WNBA Draft in New York on April Carchietta-Imagn Images Those figures represent a massive increase in TV revenue for a league that is also generating record expansion fees. The Golden State Valkyries, who this season will be the WNBA's first expansion team since 2008, paid $50 million to join the league. Two more new teams will join the WNBA in 2026 in Toronto and Portland — with the Portland franchise arriving via a record expansion fee of $125 million. Advertisement 'The WNBA is growing at an exponential rate right now,' Galer says. 'Revenue is rapidly increasing, and with the new CBA on the horizon — with the potential to multiply salaries — it's no surprise why so many players opted for one-year deals this season. Couple that with a new expansion franchise added this season, plus two more next season, and there really is an incredible amount of change happening in a short period of time.' Said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert in October, when the union opted out of a labor pact originally scheduled to run through 2027: 'With the historic 2024 WNBA season now in the books, we look forward to working together with the players and the WNBPA on a new CBA that is fair for all and lays the foundation for growth and success for years to come.' The women's game has never been healthier. Unrivaled play debuted in January and has given top WNBA players yet another lucrative offseason playing option. Before securing her new deal with the 3-on-3 circuit, Bueckers had an NIL deal with Unrivaled that gave her equity in the league while she was capping her collegiate career at UConn with a national championship. The threat of a work stoppage, of any length, is obviously not the conversation anyone close to the game wants to have right now. Not after last season's many successes, as Engelbert noted, or a wild offseason filled with trades and signings that really should be the focus as a new season begins. Advertisement Las Vegas acquired Jewell Loyd from Seattle in the same three-team blockbuster that sent Kelsey Plum from the Aces to the Los Angeles Sparks. The Phoenix Mercury made multiple moves to pair Alyssa Thomas (from Connecticut) with Satou Sabally (formerly of the Dallas Wings). Then Natasha Cloud was dealt from the Sun to the Liberty in yet another blockbuster. You'd figure that a player movement frenzy like that would be dominating discussion, but it's difficult to have a meaningful conversation about today's WNBA without a pesky reminder that there is so much riding on what happens off the court as well. Unlike the NFL (which has had six previous work stoppages) and the other major North American sports leagues (four each for the NBA, MLB and the NHL), there has never been a lockout in the WNBA. It's an enviable streak that numerous WNBA stakeholders naturally hope to extend. 'Everything is just skyrocketing, [so] for players I think it's exciting,' Galer says. 'I think it's a really amazing time because everyone feels the momentum.' Advertisement Marc Stein is an award-winning NBA reporter. Sign up for his Substack, The Stein Line, at this link. Athlon's 2025 WNBA team previews: Aces | Dream | Fever | Liberty | Lynx | Mercury | Mystics | Sky | Sparks | Storm | Sun | Valkyries | Wings Related: Athlon Sports 2025 WNBA Preview Magazine Available Now Related: Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese Usher in WNBA's Golden Era Related: Caitlin Clark Is Rested, Ready to Be Her Best After Offseason Recharge
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese Usher in WNBA's Golden Era
[Editor's note: This article is from Athlon Sports' 2025 WNBA Preview print magazine. Order your copy today online, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.] In March, business magazine Fast Company named the WNBA as one of the world's most innovative companies. The businesses on the list are those that are 'reshaping industries and culture.' The WNBA's inclusion is an impressive feat for a league that only six years prior was struggling to prove that it had long-term viability. Advertisement At that time, the New York Liberty, one of the league's original franchises, had just been purchased after previous owner James Dolan of Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. abandoned the franchise, putting it up for sale without a buyer. And the league didn't even have a top executive, as former president Lisa Borders stepped down from her role to lead the now-defunct advocacy organization Time's Up. A lot has changed in six years. For starters, the league hired a commissioner (Cathy Engelbert) for the first time. And the Liberty, that New York franchise that suffered from Dolan's mismanagement, finally won its first WNBA championship in 2024. Last season, the league's 28th, represented a major inflection point. The WNBA had its most-watched regular season since 2001 and highest attendance since 2003. What caused the sudden breakthrough? Conventional wisdom says that catalyst was the arrival of two of women's basketball's most popular players in Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, a duo that took the WNBA by storm. Advertisement In Year 1, both Clark and Reese proved that their college hoops prowess could translate to the pro level. Clark led the league in assists per game (8.4), and Reese led the league in rebounds per game (13.1). Clark broke the WNBA rookie scoring record, averaging 19.2 points per game, and Reese set a record of her own for the most consecutive double-doubles in league history (15). The most-watched regular-season game of the 2024 season was between Clark's Indiana Fever and Reese's Chicago Sky on June 23. It averaged 2.35 million viewers and was the league's most-watched regular-season game since 2001. Athlon's 2025 WNBA team previews: Aces | Dream | Fever | Liberty | Lynx | Mercury | Mystics | Sky | Sparks | Storm | Sun | Valkyries | Wings The two players faced off in college most famously during the 2023 NCAA national championship game, where Reese's LSU Tigers defeated Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes, 102-85. Reese finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and was named the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Advertisement When Reese knew her team was going to win late in the fourth quarter, she flashed a 'you can't see me' gesture toward Clark. The gesture became the top story afterward, and it revealed a double standard about how Reese, a Black player, was criticized for doing something that Clark, a white player, had previously done in another game. Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark pose for photos before the WNBA Draft in Brooklyn, New York, on April 15, Penner-USA TODAY Sports A year later, the two faced off again, this time in the Elite Eight, and Clark and Iowa got revenge against Reese and LSU. Clark scored 41 points and added 12 assists and seven rebounds in Iowa's 94-87 win. But Iowa lost the 2024 national title game to the South Carolina Gamecocks, led by former WNBA player and current coaching savant Dawn Staley. Thanks to their history in the NCAA Tournament and the attention they brought to the WNBA from the college game, many people began comparing Clark, a long-range-shooting point guard, and Reese, a high-motor power forward, to NBA legends Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, who famously faced off in college before invigorating the NBA in the 1980s. Advertisement In the 1970s, prior to Bird and Johnson, the NBA averaged around 8,000 fans per game and struggled to grow television coverage without prime-time slots. Sound familiar? In 1982, the same year Bird was named MVP of the All-Star Game and Johnson led his team to a championship and won Finals MVP, NBA playoff games were finally broadcast exclusively live instead of some being shown on tape delay. The league thrived on the strength of a revived Celtics-Lakers rivalry. When Johnson appeared on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' last July, Kimmel asked him whether the WNBA's Clark and Reese were analogous to what he and Bird were to the NBA, and if he liked that comparison. 'I like that, and they are,' Johnson answered. Then Kimmel continued to ask Johnson about how he was treated by other NBA players when he was a rookie. Many WNBA observers believed that Clark was getting targeted and roughed up by veteran WNBA players, and how unjust that was. Johnson's response to the question revealed that he got similar treatment back when he was a rookie. Johnson didn't seem to believe that treatment was unjust but rather just a part of professional basketball. 'Veterans are going to test you,' he said. 'And if they feel like you've gotten more money and more publicity, they're upset about that.' Advertisement Clearly, there are similarities between the Bird–Magic rivalry and the Clark–Reese dynamic, but it's worth acknowledging that this modern-day comparison isn't exactly apples to apples, contrary to what Johnson told Kimmel. To understand the WNBA's major breakthrough during the 2024 season, it's worth a refresher on the vision that Engelbert had for the league once she negotiated a collective bargaining agreement months into her role as commissioner and then led the league through a pandemic bubble season in 2020. LSU forward Angel Reese points at her ring finger to taunt Iowa guard Caitlin Clark during the waning moments of the NCAA Tournament championship game on April 2, 2023, in Boyden-Holmes / USA TODAY NETWORK When Engelbert addressed the media before the 2021 WNBA Draft prior to the league's silver anniversary, she explained the ways that she believed the WNBA could market itself to newer and younger fans. 'It's finding the right narrative,' she said. 'Having the right marketing, building these household names and these rivalries.' Advertisement Ever since Minnesota Lynx legends Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen retired following the 2018 WNBA season to close the curtain on the Lynx–Los Angeles Sparks rivalry, the league had been looking for a new one to take its place. In 2019, Breanna Stewart ruptured her Achilles tendon and was out for the season. Elena Delle Donne's back kept her from playing consistently from 2020 through 2022. A'ja Wilson and Jonquel Jones were held back by rosters and styles of play that didn't complement their versatile skill sets. Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird were entering the twilight of their careers and were battling injuries. Another factor: The CBA signed in 2020 allowed for more player movement during the free-agency period and a smaller window for teams to be able to hold onto exclusive negotiation rights with top players. But what if more player movement could create the marquee matchup the WNBA was missing? Advertisement Stewart, who had spent the first six years of her career with the Seattle Storm and won two championships with the franchise, was looking for something different and an opportunity to influence the trajectory of women's basketball on a larger scale. During Stewart's final season in Seattle, she lost in the WNBA semifinals to Wilson's Las Vegas Aces, a team that was playing a more modern style with WNBA legend Becky Hammon as the new head coach. Stewart signed with the Liberty in February 2023 after Jones, her friend and peer, had just been traded to New York a couple of weeks prior. Stewart also convinced veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot to join her and Jones in New York. It was the first time that a group of WNBA players coordinated where they wanted to go during free agency, and as a result, the league had a superteam built to take down the Aces, the team that got in Stewart's way the previous year. Both the Liberty and Aces represented a new chapter in the WNBA. The new owners wanted to spend more on their players, and they could do so. Both franchises broke WNBA rules while trying to provide more and better amenities to their players. The Liberty flew charter flights when that was against league rules, and the Aces paid their players under-the-table money apart from their contracts. And voilà — a marquee matchup was born. Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark shoots over Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese at Wintrust Arena in Chicago on Aug. 30, Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Stewart and Wilson were a lot like what Bird and Johnson were to each other. Their games mirrored each other as versatile forwards who could do anything and everything on the court. They played offense and defense, could score from anywhere, could rebound and handle the ball. Like both Bird and Johnson, Stewart and Wilson were all about winning rather than individual play. Advertisement In 2023, Wilson and the Aces were trying to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Sparks did so in 2001 and '02. Stewart and the Liberty were trying to bring New York its first WNBA title. The Liberty were the last original franchise without one. This all raises a question about why both Stewart and Wilson weren't heralded in college in the same way that Clark and Reese were, and why the general public didn't latch onto the Stewart-Wilson rivalry as the WNBA's version of Bird vs. Magic. The answer to that question has multiple layers. When Stewart and Wilson were playing for UConn and South Carolina, two heavyweights in modern women's college basketball, media rights were very different. At that time, high-profile games during the regular season weren't televised by the big four commercial networks (CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox). There also weren't a lot of marquee nonconference matchups made for television like there are today. Also, Stewart and Wilson never met in the NCAA Tournament like Clark and Reese did. Clark and Reese also had something Stewart and Wilson did not — name, image and likeness opportunities. While Stewart and Wilson were building their careers and personal brands in the WNBA, the NCAA implemented a policy in June 2021 that allowed student-athletes to be paid via endorsements, sponsorships and marketing partnerships. Advertisement NIL gave both monetary and exposure opportunities to women's basketball players they had never received before, opening the door for more coverage of women's college basketball players. Brands didn't see as much value in women's sports figures until the NIL era, which produced players such as Clark, Reese and upcoming WNBA talents Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins. Also, the WNBA simply wasn't ready to market players like Stewart and Wilson when they came into the league. Before Engelbert's arrival, intentional marketing of the league alongside and at the women's NCAA Tournament wasn't a given. Now it is a no-brainer for Engelbert and her chief marketing officer, Phil Cook. Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese look on during their game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on June 1, 2024.© Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images Stewart and Wilson were years into their careers when the WNBA underwent a massive digital transformation in upgrading its website and mobile app. According to Engelbert, the league went from a one-person marketing department to a staff of more than 20 people. These changes all went into effect before Clark and Reese were drafted. Advertisement In 2024, the vision that Engelbert had conceived years ago was at last being fully realized. The league could lean into household names and really nurture its rivalries. Not only were Clark, Reese and a star-filled rookie class coming into the league, but the WNBA also was going to get games between the Liberty and Aces that had real stakes. New York and Las Vegas could advance the storytelling and transform the marquee matchup into a full-fledged rivalry. The fan bases had bought in. And after losing the championship to the Aces on their home court, the Liberty had revenge at top of mind. While on the court, it's Stewart and Wilson who most resemble Bird and Johnson, especially since the Fever haven't made it back to a WNBA Finals yet, and the Sky are simply looking to make the postseason, the Clark–Reese dynamic recalls some of the racial tensions that took hold during the peak of the Bird–Johnson rivalry. Both in the early 1980s and now in the 2020s, racial tensions are high in the United States. Bird played for the Boston Celtics, an organization located in a city that a few years prior endured a desegregation crisis in its public schools. Clark plays for the Indiana Fever in Bird's home state. Johnson played in Los Angeles, and Reese plays in Chicago, two major cities in blue states. Caitlin Clark 2024 WNBA stats G PPG RPG APG FG% FT% 40 19.2 5.7 8.4 .417 .906 Angel Reese 2024 WNBA stats G PPG RPG APG FG% FT% 34 13.6 13.1 1.9 .391 .736 Clark and Reese were treated much differently by some media outlets, however. Television pundits didn't react when veteran Alyssa Thomas threw Reese to the ground, but if a player was physical with Clark, that was another story. Advertisement 'The reason why that doesn't spark as much conversation isn't just that [Clark] is a bigger star than [Thomas], it's because it's a Black-on-Black incident, and you don't have that dynamic that people can comment on, and also exaggerate and make the entire story sometimes,' sports commentator Bob Costas said on CNN. This same favoritism and desire to protect and praise a player by some media also was present during Bird's day. This white savior-type energy that accompanied Bird has also followed Clark. And just like Bird had the utmost respect for Black players, so does Clark. Growing up, her favorite player was Moore. But fans on the internet (something that didn't exist in Bird's day) often used Clark's name to harass others last season. Tensions rose during the Fever's 2024 first-round playoff series against the Connecticut Sun. When former Sun guard DiJonai Carrington accidentally poked Clark in the eye, a media member asked if it was intentional, fueling online vitriol in Clark's name. Some Clark fans also have harassed Reese. On her podcast 'Unapologetically Angel,' Reese explained that fans have sent her death threats, followed her around and made nude deepfakes that they've sent to her family members. Advertisement Later that year, Clark went on the record with Time magazine to publicly address the bad-faith actors that have jumped to her side. 'Just stop,' Clark said. 'Because that's not who I am.' Engelbert's vision came with growing pains, which she failed to address properly during a CNBC interview last fall. 'There's no more apathy. Everybody cares,' she said in response to a question about tamping down online harassment. 'It is a little of that Larry Bird–Magic Johnson moment if you recall from 1979, when those two rookies came in from a big college rivalry, one white, one Black. And so we have that moment with these two.' Engelbert received a ton of flak for those comments, including from the league's players' union. 'This is not about rivalries or iconic personalities fueling a business model. This kind of toxic fandom should never be tolerated or left unchecked,' the statement read. While Engelbert apologized privately to players and then publicly addressed her comment during a press conference at the WNBA Finals, it remains to be seen how the league is going to handle on this issue moving forward. Advertisement With the dominant play of Stewart's Liberty and Wilson's Aces and the attention that Clark and Reese attract, the WNBA is in its Bird–Magic era — or better yet, its golden age. The league unveiled a rivalry-centric schedule of games for 2025. On the first Saturday of the regular season, the Aces will take on the Liberty in Brooklyn, where New York will be presented with its championship rings, and hours later, Reese's Sky will pay in Indiana against Clark's Fever. This is an era in the WNBA when, at last, the league is marketing its household names properly and making sure to promote games of consequence. Beginning on May 17, we will see that strategy continue to unfold. Athlon's 2025 WNBA team previews: Aces | Dream | Fever | Liberty | Lynx | Mercury | Mystics | Sky | Sparks | Storm | Sun | Valkyries | Wings Advertisement Related: Athlon Sports 2025 WNBA Preview Magazine Available Now Related: Caitlin Clark Is Rested, Ready to Be Her Best After Offseason Recharge
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12-05-2025
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These 10 Must-See Games Highlight the 2025 WNBA Schedule
[Editor's note: This article is from Athlon Sports' 2025 WNBA Preview print magazine. Order your copy today online, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.] With a new WNBA season come new storylines, and with new storylines come a host of must-see matchups. Advertisement The league has expanded ahead of the 2025 season, which will feature a WNBA-record 44 regular-season games for all 13 teams, a refreshed first-round playoff format and an expanded Finals. Simply put, the action will be bigger, bolder and better than ever this season. Ahead of the historic campaign, let's take a look at 10 of the biggest matchups on this year's schedule, from opening night in Dallas to a midseason Finals rematch in Minnesota. Athlon's 2025 WNBA team previews: Aces | Dream | Fever | Liberty | Lynx | Mercury | Mystics | Sky | Sparks | Storm | Sun | Valkyries | Wings Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers poses for a photo during media day in Arlington, Texas, on May Miron-Imagn Images May 16: Minnesota Lynx at Dallas Wings The future is here, and her name is Paige Bueckers. Dallas' No. 1 overall pick will have her hands full in her WNBA debut against Napheesa Collier and last year's runner-up Lynx. Based on Bueckers' showing in her final NCAA Tournament at UConn, she'll be up for the challenge. Don't be surprised if she turns in a debut for the ages. May 17: Las Vegas Aces at New York Liberty It took 28 seasons for the Liberty to capture that elusive WNBA title, but the team won't have to wait long to raise a banner at Barclays Center. WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, the star duo of Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart and the rest of New York's returning champions will receive their rings as a familiar foe visits the Big Apple on the second day of the regular season. A'ja Wilson and Co. have won a big game or two at Barclays before and will look to play spoiler on ring night. Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese look on during their game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on June 1, Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images May 17: Chicago Sky at Indiana Fever It's fitting that after turning in historic rookie seasons, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will begin Year 2 of their careers against one another. Last year's meetings between Chicago and Indiana did not disappoint, and this should be no different — both Clark and Reese should be even better than they were as rookies, and their teams are, too. The interior matchups between former South Carolina teammates Aliyah Boston and Kamilla Cardoso are always entertaining as well. May 24: New York Liberty at Indiana Fever With the acquisitions of DeWanna Bonner, Sophie Cunningham and Natasha Howard, the Fever used the offseason to make a major leap to build a contender around the All-Star trio of Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell. There's no better litmus test than an early-season meeting with the defending champions, who have added Natasha Cloud to set the table for Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart. Jewell Loyd spent the first 10 seasons of her WNBA career with the Storm. She will return to Seattle as a member of the Las Vegas Aces on May Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports May 25: Las Vegas Aces at Seattle Storm After one of the biggest blockbuster trades in league history, former No. 1 overall pick Jewell Loyd returns to the city where she became a WNBA star. The split between parties wasn't exactly smooth, meaning Loyd's return will be the headline, but this is also a rematch of last year's playoff series that Las Vegas swept in two games. That series will certainly be on the minds of Seattle players, too. May 30: Minnesota Lynx at Phoenix Mercury After being swept out of last year's playoffs by Minnesota, Phoenix added a pair of stars in Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas to reload and contend. The Mercury will have an early opportunity to exact revenge on Napheesa Collier, Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams, Alanna Smith and the rest of the Lynx, who visit the Valley two weeks into the season. May 30: Los Angeles Sparks at Las Vegas Aces Eight years after the franchise took Kelsey Plum first overall, the Aces will face their longtime guard for the first time in her career. It should be an emotional night for everyone as Plum will look to lead her new team to a win over A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and the rest of her former championship teammates. It's also a great opportunity for L.A.'s rising star Rickea Jackson to make a statement as her draft classmate Cameron Brink continues to work back from her ACL injury. June 27: Indiana Fever at Dallas Wings It's always appointment viewing when the league's two most recent No. 1 overall draft picks go head-to-head. Caitlin Clark vs. Paige Bueckers will be no exception. Clark and Bueckers exude star power, and this should be the first of many memorable WNBA meetings between them. Not for nothing, this also marks NaLyssa Smith's first game against the Fever, her former team, and the first time DeWanna Bonner and DiJonai Carrington will face off as opponents after four years as Sun teammates. A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces will play host to Brittney Griner and the Atlanta Dream on July 22 in a matchup of two of the WNBA's all-time great Miller / Getty Images July 22: Atlanta Dream at Las Vegas Aces A change at head coach and the addition of free agents Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner headlined the Dream's offseason. After a playoff push in 2024, Atlanta will look to show its improvement on the court and in the standings. Griner, the 2013 No. 1 overall pick, will go head-to-head with 2018 No. 1 overall pick A'ja Wilson in what should be a classic battle of centers and a great test of how far the Dream can go. July 30: New York Liberty at Minnesota Lynx Two months into the season, fans will get the first of at least four WNBA Finals rematches during the regular season. Last year's five-game series was an instant classic, and this first meeting should provide more of the same. They may downplay it, but both teams will look to make a midseason statement in what could be a preview of the 2025 WNBA Finals. The two teams will play three times in 10 days in mid-August as well. Athlon's 2025 WNBA team previews: Aces | Dream | Fever | Liberty | Lynx | Mercury | Mystics | Sky | Sparks | Storm | Sun | Valkyries | Wings Related: Athlon Sports 2025 WNBA Preview Magazine Available Now Related: Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese Usher in WNBA's Golden Era Related: Why the WNBA's Economic Momentum Is at Stake in 2025
