More than half of the WNBA’s 13 teams played their first home games after the Olympics in front of crowds larger than what they were averaging before the league broke for the Athens Games.
Five teams — Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, Phoenix and Seattle — had crowds more than 10 percent larger than their average crowds before the break.
The league stopped play after its Aug. 1 games, resuming on Sept. 1, to let WNBA players participate in the Olympics.
Team and league officials said their efforts to keep the teams and their players top-of-mind during the break helped, as did local media coverage of WNBA players in the Olympics. “Welcome Back”-type game promotions also created buzz for the first games played after the Olympics, said league spokeswoman Sharon Robustelli.
Interim activities by the teams included player appearances at school assemblies and other community events. Some teams, such as Seattle and Phoenix, created special ticket packages for their September games. Phoenix’s package offers a $10 Starbucks card as a purchasing incentive for the Mercury’s four September games. Seattle’s package promotes the team’s playoff push and includes priority tickets should the team make the playoffs.
At the start of the season, league and team officials were unsure what effect the Olympics break would have on both the league’s attendance and TV ratings performance.
“None of us were ecstatic about taking a month off,” Seattle Storm COO Karen Bryant said. She pointed to concern for the league “going dark” for a month, as well as the potential negative impact of resuming the season at a time when children, a target audience for the league, are headed back to school. The extended season also meant the league would be competing with college and pro football seasons.
The WNBA regular season continues through Sunday. It was not immediately clear what impact, if any, the break would have on the league’s TV presence. No games had been nationally televised by partners ESPN or ABC through last Wednesday since the league resumed play.
