Overview
- The All‑Star game Saturday at Chicago’s United Center drew 19,783 fans, the largest crowd in the event’s history and more than the NBA’s All‑Star attendance this year.
- ABC averaged 3.2 million viewers for the All‑Star broadcast, and the league reports roughly 73 million unique viewers through midseason with 29 games already averaging more than one million viewers.
- Team Spoon beat Team Coop 129‑122, Jonquel Jones won All‑Star MVP with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists, and Nneka Ogwumike became the All‑Star Game’s all‑time leading scorer.
- The season has a record national broadcast slate with 216 of 330 regular‑season games televised and follows a new collective bargaining agreement that raised pay and added revenue sharing.
- Rising audiences and sellout crowds are likely to strengthen the WNBA’s negotiating position for future TV deals and sponsorships and could lead to wider financial gains for players and teams in the second half of the season.