Founded in 1996, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a professional basketball league composed of 12 teams from the United States. The Las Vegas Aces registered the highest average attendance across the 2023 season with 9,551. That season, the Aces went on to secure their second consecutive WNBA championship title, beating the New York Liberty in the Finals. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Mercury had the second -highest average regular season attendance, with an average of 9,197 spectators. A big draw for the Mercury was the return of Brittney Griner following her widely-covered imprisonment in Russia in 2022.
Player salaries in the WNBA
Erica Wheeler of the Indiana Fever was the highest earner in the WNBA in the 2023 season, having earned an annual salary of 242 thousand U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, looking at the average annual salaries of the WNBA and the NBA, the average NBA player took home around 10.8 million U.S. dollars at the end of the year, which was nearly 93 times higher than the average WNBA player salary.
WNBA league records
Since the opening season in 1997, former and current WNBA players have been setting high standards and surpassing old ones throughout the course of the competition. Sue Bird was the career games leader of the WNBA, having played 580 professional games prior to her retirement in 2022. Meanwhile, the WNBA's all-time scoring leader was Diana Taurasi, who began her career with the Phoenix Mercury in 2004. Overall, three WNBA teams held the record for most WNBA championships during the history of the league, all winning four championships apiece.
Average regular season attendance at WNBA games in 2023, by team
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Website (acrossthetimeline.com). (October 10, 2023). Average regular season attendance at WNBA games in 2023, by team [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved September 01, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1236749/wnba-team-attendance/
Website (acrossthetimeline.com). "Average regular season attendance at WNBA games in 2023, by team." Chart. October 10, 2023. Statista. Accessed September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1236749/wnba-team-attendance/
Website (acrossthetimeline.com). (2023). Average regular season attendance at WNBA games in 2023, by team. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1236749/wnba-team-attendance/
Website (acrossthetimeline.com). "Average Regular Season Attendance at Wnba Games in 2023, by Team." Statista, Statista Inc., 10 Oct 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1236749/wnba-team-attendance/
Website (acrossthetimeline.com), Average regular season attendance at WNBA games in 2023, by team Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1236749/wnba-team-attendance/ (last visited September 01, 2024)
Average regular season attendance at WNBA games in 2023, by team [Graph], Website (acrossthetimeline.com), October 10, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1236749/wnba-team-attendance/