Libertys first WNBA championship highlights exciting local year in womens sports

Fewer than 1,200 fans filtered into the Barclays Center for the New York Liberty’s 2021 season opener to get their first in-person glimpse at 2020 top pick Sabrina Ionescu in black-and-seafoam green threads after her rookie season took place in a bubble because of the pandemic.In three short years, the Liberty have seen their average attendance grow by nearly 580 percent.In 2023, the team recorded its first sellout at Barclays Center, drawing a crowd of 11,418 fans for a regular-season contest against the Las Vegas Aces.This year, Ionescu and her teammates won the franchise’s first WNBA Finals in front of a crowd of more than 18,000.Winning, of course, makes everything easier for a franchise.

Fans love to rally around and invest in a team that brings home a title.But the Liberty’s recent off-the-court success follows that of a larger trend across women’s sports over the past few years.After years of being undervalued, women’s sports, particularly the WNBA, have seen a massive wave of investment and have never been more accessible for fans to watch and follow.While women’s sports may have been on the rise for years, 2024 felt different.It helps that there was no shortage of exciting moments, from the budding rivalry between WNBA rookie stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese to American Olympians Simone Biles and Ilona Maher captivating fans at the 2024 Paris Games.A new professional women’s hockey league, promising viability and sustainability, crowned its first champion.TV ratings across different sports boomed.

Attendance records were shattered, too.There were tales of redemption and heartbreak.Viral moments and legendary performances.In the New York market, specifically, women’s sports continue to carve out their space in the saturated sports landscape.The Liberty delivered the city its first professional basketball title since 1973.

Gotham FC fell short of going back to the NWSL championships.Columbia women’s basketball went dancing for the fir...

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Disclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by PaprClips.
Publisher: New York Post

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