{"id":9730,"date":"2024-05-22T06:50:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T06:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=9730"},"modified":"2024-05-26T06:52:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-26T06:52:20","slug":"wnba-record-revenue-game-the-ny-libertys-2024-home-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2024\/05\/wnba-record-revenue-game-the-ny-libertys-2024-home-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA Record-Revenue Game: The NY Liberty’s 2024 Home Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editors’ Note: All photo credits go to the author, Lily Saal, unless otherwise specified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17, 735 fans, a sold-out crowd, gathered at the Barclay\u2019s Center in Brooklyn on Saturday, May 18, to watch a mammoth of a women\u2019s basketball game: the New York Liberty, fresh off a WBNA finals-reaching season, and the Indiana Fever, who\u2019s newest team member\u2019s name causes temperatures to rise nationwide \u2013 Caitlin Clark.<\/p>\n\n\n

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According to the Associated Press, the game generated over $2 million in ticket revenue, a WNBA record. From the moment my family and I exited the 2\/3 train station, I understood why: I had never seen so many fans at a women\u2019s sporting event. In 2019, the last time I attended a NY Liberty game, the stadium closed the top row of seats, many sections sparsely held fans and wildest of all, I managed to secure a courtside seat. Since, the NY Liberty underwent a complete rebuild going from league bottom to championship contender, but nothing and no one attracted more fans to Barclay\u2019s than Caitlin Clark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My family and I attending a packed Liberty Game (2024)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Sitting courtside at an empty Liberty game (2019)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fans donned plenty of turquoise blue Liberty merch, using their motto, \u201cLight it up,\u201d (the team\u2019s symbol is a torch, for the Statue of Liberty), but a Caitlin Clark fan appeared for each Liberty fan. Attendees wore Clark\u2019s jerseys, from Iowa (her alma mater) and Indiana. One fan wore the iconic Nike shirt, \u201cIf you break it, you own it,\u201d a reference to Clark breaking the all-time college basketball scoring record.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Source: Nike<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The game was no contest: the NY Liberty showed their strength early, leading by 9 at the end of the first quarter, and continued to pull away. Led by team star Breanna Stewart, who scored 24, the Liberty\u2019s entire starting lineup scored double-digit points. Although the crowd roared for a few impossible three-pointers, Indiana\u2019s Clark looked helpless and exhausted; it was clear why the Indiana Fever received her first-overall in the Draft \u2013 they’re struggling. After a particularly incredible three-pointer, Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu summed up the game: a shrug of the shoulders \u2013 complete ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I think we were all smiling like Slooty after this \ud83d\ude04 pic.twitter.com\/w3dRY3pT2b<\/a><\/p>— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) May 18, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>