Harrison-Diggs, 63, was one of hundreds of fans outside Wintrust Arena eager to cheer on the nation’s best women’s basketball. “The atmosphere is electric,” he said with a smile. But as excited as Harrison-Diggs was to be in Chicago for All-Star weekend, she also felt disappointed. “I’m a little disappointed that these women, as hard as they play, don’t get the same recognition that the NBA gets,” she said. “They don’t have the same exposure, the same coverage, and especially the same money.” Harrison-Diggs came to the arena with friends for the WNBA skills competition and 3-point shooting contest, only to find they were closed to the public and being held in a convention center next door. Instead, she and her friends were in a nearby yard watching the events like people at home: on a TV screen. The matches were scheduled to air on ESPN but were moved to ESPNU at the last minute while ESPN showed the end of the men’s doubles tournament at Wimbledon. Many fans don’t have access to the lesser-known ESPNU channel, and some took to social media to complain. ESPN later announced it would televise the skills competition. “They wouldn’t have hit the men,” Harrison-Diggs said. There is a surge of engagement and excitement for the WNBA as it enters its 26th season, but the league’s fan base has come with a critical eye. Much of the league’s goodwill has been built around a core group of stars like Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker. But as they begin to retire, the WNBA is moving into a new era of younger, social media-savvy talent and a fan base that demands more from the league. “I’d like to see it really feel like they’re thinking, some forethought, about what they really want a weekend to look like,” said Anraya Palmer, who traveled from Atlanta for the All-Star Game. Palmer, who is Black, was 6 years old when she made her WNBA debut. She was instantly hooked. “It was the first time I saw female basketball players, especially female athletes, who were like, ‘Oh, I can really grow up and do this,’” Palmer said. Palmer grew up to be a teacher, but she’s also an Atlanta Dream fan. He said the league had changed for the better in many ways, but All-Star weekend was a prime example of an area for improvement. “It looks like some things may have come together at the last second,” he said. “But the die-hard fans will come out and have a good time.” The WNBA said it did not have access to Wintrust Arena until Saturday night because it was being used by a cookware convention. The league has hosted fan events and invitation-only outdoor concerts, but Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said safety concerns in the wake of the mass shooting contributed to the league’s decision to close the concerts to the public. Representatives for the city and the Chicago Police Department declined to comment for the record. On Sunday, 9,572 fans packed Wintrust Arena, which seats about 10,400, for the All-Star Game. A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and Fowles of Minnesota captained Team Wilson, while Breanna Stewart and her Seattle teammate Bird led Team Stewart. Team Wilson defeated Team Stewart 134-112. Brittney Griner, the seven-time All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury, was named an honorable mention starter. He has been detained in Russia on drug charges since February. Griner’s wife, Cheryl Griner, was sitting in the yard. All 22 All-Stars wore jerseys bearing Griner’s name and No. 42 for the second half. Aaron Brown of Chicago, a longtime Fowles fan, said he wouldn’t miss the All-Star Game “for the world.” Brown said most men think women’s basketball is “boring,” but to him, the women’s game is “purer and more fun.” “The beauty of women’s basketball is the fundamentals – they play with an IQ and skill level that even men don’t have,” he said. “You really have to use not only your body but also your mind. Mostly men can get by in sports, but they don’t have the fundamentals.” His favorite player is Aces guard Kelsey Plum. She tied Maya Moore’s record for points in an All-Star Game with 30 and was named Most Valuable Player. Brown said Plum, like many other players, doesn’t get the same attention as the biggest names in the league. “They only offer the same five or six,” he said. “There are a lot of other good players who are here now and they are not going to leave in two years. They deserve to shine.” Patrick Schmidt of the Detroit area agreed, saying he would like to see the league “showcase more of the Black superstars in addition to the legends that they do.” Some fans also spoke about the pay disparity between WNBA and NBA players. In 2022, the salary cap for each WNBA team is about $1.4 million and the maximum player salary is just under $230,000. In the NBA, the team’s salary cap will be over $123 million for the 2022-23 season, and top players earn nearly $50 million annually. “It doesn’t make sense for a star women’s basketball player to make less than a bench player in the NBA,” said Sterling Hightower, a fan from Chicago. “I’m a big fan of the NBA. There are people in the NBA I don’t even know who make more than Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird. Cynthia Smith, a 24-year Liberty season ticket holder, put it plainly: “It’s not on our mind anymore,” adding, “I don’t know if we’re going to get pay equity, but we need equity in exposure.” Over the weekend, several players, including Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, echoed the sentiments of fans: “Put us on TV more,” he said. Fans have long complained about how difficult it can be to watch games, like switching between multiple platforms including ESPN, Twitter, Facebook and a buggy WNBA app. “You’re telling me I have to go through three applications, I’m not watching. Let’s be honest here,” Wilson said. “I think that’s the key to how the league can grow.” Plum agreed, saying she would like to see the league make it easier to watch games. “We understand that the product is great and when we get people to watch the game, they love it,” he said. “But the hardest part is getting people there.” Bird, who is retiring this year after 21 seasons in the league, said the key will be renegotiating the TV rights over the next two years. “This is the moment,” Byrd said. “This could really open things up and change the entire trajectory of our league.” Nneka Ogwumike, a forward for the Los Angeles Sparks and president of the WNBA players’ association, said the league was “on the precipice of something that can really turn into something big.” Ogwumike said “the magic word is expansion”. There are 12 teams, with 12 roster spots each. Engelbert said the league is analyzing demographics, “fantasy” women’s basketball and viewership data for 100 cities, and new teams could be on the horizon by 2025. She also said finding the right media package was its “core business priority’ for this year. One of the biggest areas of growth for the league has been activism around social justice. The next wave of activism could be around abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Stewart called the decision “disgusting” and “heartbreaking” and said she expects there will soon be discussions about how to handle events in states where abortion is banned. “As we continue to fight these social issues and injustices based on race, gender, sexual orientation, all the things, the league has to have our backs in every way,” he said. Bird said the shift to addressing social and political issues marked a huge transformation among players. “I think back on my career and I was definitely part of a shut-down and dribble generation where that’s what we did – we didn’t complain too much or talk about things too much, because we were afraid of it.” he said. “We have found our power in our voice and I am proud to have become a small part of it at the end of my career.”
