The WNBA isn’t just having a moment, it’s a major growth opportunity for small businesses
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The WNBA isn’t just having a moment, it’s a major growth opportunity for small businesses
Anyone who holds even a passing interest in sports knows the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is having a moment. And not a minor one, either. Year over year, the growth metrics are staggering. Average viewership in 2024 was 201% higher than in the previous year and 791% higher than in 2017, according to media audience measurement company Nielsen. Attendance jumped 48%, the highest it has been in 22 years, reports the league.
That momentum hasn’t slowed in 2025—and it’s showing up in ecommerce, too. Shopify reports that stores on its platform saw sales of sports fan accessories more than double (up 101.5% year over year) when the 2025 WNBA season tipped off in May. The category includes everything from jerseys to t-shirts to basketballs, reflecting growing demand from both longtime fans and newcomers.
But this isn’t just about buzzy headlines or a single breakout athlete. It’s a clear signal that a new kind of sports fandom is reshaping commerce—and creating long-term opportunities for entrepreneurs who move fast.
Here’s what’s driving that growth, and what brands can do to capitalize on it.
The WNBA is a growth opportunity built to last
The surge in WNBA fan engagement isn’t a one-season wonder. Apparel brand Homage saw its WNBA product sales jump 900% in early 2024. That momentum didn’t fade. In May 2025, its WNBA sales were double what they were a year prior. This kind of continued growth signals a fan base that’s not only expanding, but sticking around.
This long tail of interest underscores a key opportunity: Brands that invest now aren’t just chasing hype—they’re tapping into a shifting sports economy.
It’s bigger than a single player
Some have oversimplified the league’s recent rise as the “Caitlin Clark effect.” That effect is undeniable. When Clark debuted with the Indiana Fever in May 2024, Homage saw Indiana Fever merch sales jump 400%. However, one year later, sales were still up another 250%—not just maintaining, but growing. This kind of lift rarely lasts in retail, suggesting Clark may be a catalyst, but not the sole reason for the league’s momentum.
“You can’t capitalize on the opportunity that a once-in-a-lifetime talent brings about unless you’ve created an infrastructure to support it,” says Adam Cook, vice president of Campus Ink, a merch platform built for students and athletes. “The WNBA and the athletes themselves have been grinding for the last 25 years to get the WNBA to where it was able to take advantage of an athlete like Caitlin Clark.”
Since joining in 2019, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has led a major overhaul of the league’s brand, staffing, and marketing—ensuring it had the infrastructure to seize this cultural moment. In 2020, as the league leaned into social justice messaging and benefitted from increased broadcast visibility during a pandemic-thinned sports calendar, viewership jumped 68%.
Rather than fade, that momentum has continued, and the league has continued to grow. In 2022, Engelbert led the WNBA in raising $75 million in capital, which enabled the league to hire more staff, boost marketing, and accelerate global expansion plans. And, according to The Wall Street Journal, average WNBA team valuation surged from $10 million in 2019 to $100 million in 2024.
It’s attracting a whole new demo—and their spending power
The WNBA’s increased attention isn’t just borrowed from other leagues. It’s building a new fan base by drawing in previously untapped demographics—especially women. Engelbert has emphasized that the WNBA isn’t trying to compete with men’s leagues, but rather broaden the sports fan universe. And it’s working.
Women viewership on ESPN platforms for the 2024 season was up 165% compared to the previous year. And ESPN’s unique viewership rose 157% in 2024, introducing millions of new fans to the game.
Fans of women’s sports show higher purchase intent than fans of men’s sports—who already outpace the general population, according to a 2025 sports trend report from Nielsen.
In fact, fans of women’s team sports are, on average, 17% more likely to consider purchases across major consumer categories than men’s sports fans, and 48% more likely than the general population.
That intent spans everything from cars and consumer electronics to fantasy sports platforms and luxury goods—underscoring just how commercially powerful this audience has become.
For fans, it’s more than a game
The passion among WNBA fans is unique, says Cook. It isn’t just about the game—it’s about identity, community, and cultural alignment. “I think WNBA fans are some of the most engaged and probably passionate fans across most sports leagues today,” he says.
That intensity shows up not just in attendance, but in digital behavior. In 2024, ESPN saw a 413% increase in social engagement on its WNBA content. In other words, fans aren’t just watching; they’re connecting, sharing, and advocating.
For ecommerce businesses, this kind of loyalty translates into real revenue potential. “Passion and engagement, especially as it relates to fans and tying that passion and engagement to athletes specifically, it’s going to translate to business success and growth,” explains Cook.
Fans of women’s sports often view their purchases as statements of support, not just souvenirs. That deeper connection means they’re more likely to buy early, buy often, and stay loyal to both athletes and the brands that endorse them over time.
Female athletes are built for this era
Because athletes can now build brands in college—thanks to the Supreme Court’s 2021 NCAA decision allowing them to profit from their name, image, and likeness—fanbase connections today form earlier and run deeper than in the past.
Female athletes have substantially higher engagement rates than their male counterparts, according to data platform SponsorUnited—making them uniquely positioned to thrive in this new landscape. “They’ve always had to advocate for themselves,” says Cook. “Now they’re flexing that muscle to monetize the brand they’re building through their sport.”
The sales of Campus Ink’s athlete-focused merch brand, NIL Store, reflect that shift. Women’s basketball apparel during 2024–2025 was 361% higher than the previous academic year, surpassing men’s basketball.
That demand made the WNBA the next natural step. “For us to be able to allow the athletes to continue to work with us—and allow those fans to continue to follow and celebrate and be a growth driver all the way into their pro career years—was just kind of a natural progression,” Cook says.
A new playbook for sports merchandising
The most successful brands in the WNBA space aren’t just riding the wave—they’re shaping it. By staying close to the culture, moving fast, and building systems that support speed and creativity, they’re proving just how much opportunity this new era holds.
Here are three strategies businesses can borrow from their playbook.
1. Center your merch around athletes
The old model of merchandising around playoff runs or rivalries doesn’t cut it anymore. “In this age, fans have a much more loyal connection to the athlete themselves than the team,” says Cook. He points to LeBron James as a prime example: “Fans show up to NBA games wearing seven LeBron James jerseys from different teams.”
This shift is especially pronounced in women’s sports, where athletes often cultivate their own followings long before they go pro. NIL Store is built to capitalize on that: Rather than licensing team logos, it partners directly with individual student-athletes—meeting fans where their passion really lies.
For example, Paige Bueckers has been the top-selling female athlete on the NIL Store for 15 straight months—and top-earning overall (male or female) for the 2024–2025 academic year. That kind of sustained demand isn’t tied to a single tournament run; in fact, it isn’t even tied to a specific team. She has maintained her dominance on the site, even when she left her college team, the UConn Huskies, for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings.
In other words, her talent and personal brand—not her team affiliation—are what drive sales. That’s the power of athlete-centric merchandising: It taps into fans’ deeper, more personal connections.
NIL Store’s model is designed for this new reality, where player loyalty often eclipses team loyalty. By building around the athlete first, it’s able to deliver products fans actually want—on timelines that traditional licensing models can’t match.
2. Viral moments drive sales
Social media has radically reshaped how—and when—fans buy.
“In college sports, if you don’t take advantage of a moment, it’s gone in 48 hours,” says Cook. That urgency has helped NIL Store not just grow in the WNBA space but dominate it. “We’ve built a lot of our success on the NIL Store around that speed,” he says. NIL Store’s long-standing relationships with athletes and teams allows it to get designs approved and launched fast, often within a day or two. That muscle memory is now serving it well with the WNBA.
Pro leagues historically haven’t operated with that kind of speed. “In a typical licensed world, buyers are placing orders three or four months in advance,” explains Steven Farag, CEO of Campus Ink and NIL Store, on Shopify Masters. But moments like the now-viral Sophie Cunningham foul have proven just how valuable it is to move quickly.
When Cunningham made a hard foul defending Caitlin Clark—a moment that instantly sparked conversation—the NIL Store launched a t-shirt labeling her “The Enforcer” within days. “That’s a moment we can turn into merchandise,” Cook says. “Not because it’s a t-shirt, but because it’s something that the fans saw, loved, resonated with, and connected with.”
NIL Store flips the old model on its head. Instead of designing for a whole season in advance, it launches merch in real time—reacting to what’s happening in the moment. This flexibility enables it to capitalize on what today’s fans actually want: the ability to celebrate an athlete’s impact on a game-by-game basis.
“As a brand, you have to meet the fan where they are and provide them with the things they want to keep them engaged and connected,” says Cook. That’s why NIL Store doesn’t wait for postseason buzz—it builds around standout plays, viral highlights, and the moments fans are already talking about.
Sports apparel brand 500 Level has seen similar results. “The viral video of Sophie Cunningham on June 17 has been the biggest reason for a spike in orders for the WNBA and WNBPA license,” says CEO Joe Catlow. That kind of organic momentum is hard to manufacture—but with the right infrastructure in place, brands can turn real-time buzz into real-world sales
3. Be ready to respond
Reacting to viral moments isn’t just about creative instincts—it’s about infrastructure. The brands thriving in the WNBA space have systems in place that let them move fast without cutting corners.
For NIL Store, that means vertical integration to support just-in-time delivery and manufacturing. “A player might transfer, quit, or get injured. And in a typical licensed world, buyers place orders three to four months in advance. That doesn’t work in the NIL space,” says Farag. Its model, which is built for the volatility of college sports, has translated naturally to the fast-moving WNBA landscape.
500 Level has leaned into a fully staffed art team and print-on-demand production to move at the speed of fan conversation. This flexibility lets it produce hot market items not just for fans, but for sporting goods stores and stadiums worldwide.
Homage also thrives on fast reactions to fan energy. “When something meaningful is happening in sports, especially with teams or athletes we admire, we’re locked in,” says Kelly Cahill, senior vice president of marketing. “We stay ready to create, keep our supply chains flexible, and always listen—to fans, to culture, and to the game.”
The takeaway? You can’t plan for viral moments—but you can plan to be ready when they arrive.
The rise of the WNBA isn’t a blip. It’s a sign that women’s sports are rewriting the rules of fan engagement and commerce. With a new kind of customer, deeper emotional connection, and more dynamic opportunities to sell, this is one of the most promising arenas for modern merchants.
As Cook says: “It’s not a moment. It’s a movement.”
This story was produced by Shopify and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
