Saturday’s WNBA pre-season game in Toronto has already been deemed a huge hit, and the numbers that came out Monday are just further proof of the event’s success.
The game between the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky set records for attendance, viewership and merchandise sales, the WNBA announced via press release.
The 19,923 fans at Scotiabank Arena was the most ever at a WNBA pre-season game. It was also the most-viewed WNBA pre-season game ever, and the second-most-viewed WNBA game of all time in Canada.
The fans at the arena also were clearly in the spirit, as an incredible 98 per cent of in-arena merchandise was sold by the end of the game. There was also a 506 per cent increase in WNBA merchandise sales in Canada compared to the same week last year.
All the numbers confirm why WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert said that “Toronto scored very high on the list” of cities the league is considering for expansion.
The appetite is clearly there.