Labar: My First WNBA Game Showed the Promise and Uniqueness of the League

By Abby Labar
Sportmoney Columnist

I grew up playing every sport under the sun. That was my life: school, practice or a game, homework, bed. Every single season. Even in the summer I was on a swim team and riding horses. Soccer was my number one sport. With the popularity of Mia Hamm and David Beckham during that time, they were naturally players I looked up to.

When my playing days were over and I turned to covering sports over playing them, I dove right into men’s sports. Men’s basketball and baseball at NC State, followed by college football and the NHL, and now MLB. Out of the hundreds of sporting events I’ve attended, this past Sunday was actually the first time I had ever been to a WNBA game. 

Of course I’ve always supported women and women’s sports, that’s never been a question. But being so consumed with the leagues and teams I cover for work, besides a few women’s basketball games and NC Courage matches in college, I haven’t been able to attend many women’s sporting events. 

The timing of attending this game sparked the idea to write about my experience. First off, Caitlin Clark just so happened to be on the opposing team (mind you I actually didn’t plan this in advance – we decided to get tickets the morning of the game, lucky me right?). And secondly, in the last couple of weeks, specifically the last couple of days, the WNBA has headlined conversations among sports media. 

Let’s set the stage, shall we? A Sunday evening, 7:00 p.m. tipoff at Barclays Center in Brooklyn between the visiting Indiana Fever and New York Liberty. My friend and I were traveling from Manhattan to Brooklyn, getting in around 6:00 p.m. We walked past the gates shortly thereafter, where we were able to see lines to get in had already formed.

Our actual arrival to the game was shortly following tipoff, and the first thing I noticed when we got to our seats was how packed and energetic the environment was. We seemed to be some of the last fans trickling in, everybody was clearly ready to go from the start. From the lower levels up to the nosebleeds, it was hard to pick out any section with a noticeable amount of empty seats. The official attendance of that night, per ESPN, was 17,401 fans. According to the Barclays Center, “the arena offers 17,732 seats for basketball games.” Okay so…yeah basically a sell out.

Celebrities lined the courtside seats. There were New York area professional athletes and actors and actresses, most notably Jason Sudeikis from Ted Lasso, who stayed long after the end of the game to interact with fans and take photos with the players. The energy was unmatched. The action on the court was high-quality despite the Liberty taking and holding on to a very comfortable lead for the bulk of the game. Both teams were competing and aggressive until the very end, which bled into the rest of the atmosphere where you saw fans get very into the game and the overall experience. 

The jumbotron showed face paint, pom poms, signs and swag that included everything from Liberty gear, Caitlin Clark/Iowa support, as well as several shirts from the influential brand “Togethxr” that said across the front “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports.” The number of young girls there was not surprising, yet a really incredible thing to witness in person. Many of them were prancing around with shopping bags that showed they had clearly convinced their parents to buy them fresh New York Liberty apparel. Sure the cost was probably high, but a new fan for life? Priceless. 

As much as one could try to argue the popularity of this specific game I attended was because of the Caitlin Clark draw, there is a very dedicated and die-hard Liberty fan base — it was obvious by the way fans were outfitted in their teal Liberty gear for the game. I saw more of that than Iowa/Fever/Clark signs and physical support. 

As I mentioned earlier, the game was a blow out. New York won by 36 points and even with the departure of both Clark and Ailyah Boston, there was not an obvious chunk of fans that left early like you normally see at a Rangers or Knicks game. It was packed until the end.

Following the final buzzer, they roped off the court but allowed fans to file down toward the ropes and tunnels to wait for autographs and pictures – access that you never normally see at a professional men’s sporting event. The players patiently gave the fans what they were waiting for, staying for a decent chunk of time to address as many as they could, some even coming back out of the tunnel later on. 

My biggest takeaways were how interactive the experience was for fans that you could tell were just so passionate for the WNBA and these teams. This type of access and interaction can be a challenge and huge expense at men’s professional sporting events, if it is even available. As somebody who has been a voice and representative for specific teams through my different roles as an in-game host, reporter and studio host, one of the things I have always taken pride in is being that median for fans to feel close to the players and teams they love. To see the direct fan to player/team interaction was really something special and goes to show how important that will continue to be for the growth of women’s sports. 

I’m very much looking forward to going back to more Liberty games, and continuing to listen to the good and maybe not so good conversations around the present and future of the WNBA. Ultimately that’s bringing more attention to and empowering these women who pour out blood, sweat and tears to do what they love, giving us all something to be entertained by, experience and cheer for in the process.