NBA games
The attendance in NBA games is greater than the attendance in WNBA. In 2019, the NBA average attendance was 18,000, while the WNBA’s average attendance was 7,400. However, the attendance for WNBA is the lowest it has been in history. In 2018, the attendance of the WNBA game was 6,768, way far below the average.
This drop has been caused by the constant moving schedules of the teams. Since 2010, the Chicago Sky have played in three different arenas. The New York Liberty is another extreme case; they moved to Westchester County Centre, which can accommodate a maximum of 5000 attendees.
Also, the pandemic had a significant influence on the decreased number of attendees. Some games have been played with even no fans in attendance.
The disparity in attendance between WNSL and MLS
The attendance in MLS is higher than the attendance in NWSL. Before the pandemic, in the 2019 NWSL season, the average attendance was 10,000, while the MLS had 21,300 attendees. In MLS games, 2018 had the highest average attendance of 5300 people, while the highest attendance for NWSL occurred in 2021 when a crowd of 27,278 watched OL Reign defeat the visiting Portland Thorns FC 2–1.
Most of the MSL clubs have many attendees due to the limited stadium capacity that is lifted during specific matches; therefore, when additional sections are opened, other clubs use larger venues for certain matches that attract large attendances. One particular memory from 2014 sticks out. The Reign had just dismantled the Thorns 5-0 in front of nearly 6,000 fans at Memorial Stadium, then the biggest crowd to ever watch a professional women’s soccer match in Washington. The Reign players and coaches were all beaming about the performance and the atmosphere, but there was also a tinge of disappointment that so much of it was supplied by the 200 or so visiting supporters.
The NWSL has made serious advancements since that game seven years ago. Drawing a few thousand people to a crumbling stadium is no longer seen as aspirational, for instance. Almost every team in the league is playing in stadiums befitting a top-flight league and has hosted crowds that number into the five digits.
NBA vs. WNBA; ratings
The 2019 WNBA season began well with a very high rating as the third game of WNBA provided a 0.6 rating, a 200% compared to 2020. WNBA is still expounding its coverage to more regular-season telecasts. On the other hand, NBA is not doing an excellent job in the rating department. Since 1998, NBA set high ratings at a time when Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz delivered an 18/33 and acquired 29 million views, but as of now, NBA has only attained an average rating of 8.8 and gotten 15,14 million views. Although Canadian ownership is not included in the numbers, they also took part in the competition in the 2018 NBA finals.