No women’s professional basketball game has seen as many attendees as Unrivaled did on Friday. At least in the regular season.
The player-led, 3-on-3 league drew in 21,490 fans for a sold-out doubleheader at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena, it announced. That reportedly sets a record for the highest-attended regular season professional women’s basketball game.
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For reference, the most attended WNBA regular season game was Sept. 19, 2024 game between the Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever at D.C.’s Capital One Arena. That was the final game of Caitlin Clark’s rookie season. The WNBA has seen two games with 22,076 fans, though, in the 2003 and 2007 finals at the Detroit Shock’s Palace of Auburn Hills.
Unrivaled also notes the attendance is a record for any event at Xfinity Mobile Arena, which is the home of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.
The many fans in attendance enjoyed a fun first game, with Kelsey Plum hitting the game-winner for Phantom to finish a 22-point night.
Also on the victorious Phantom was Natasha Cloud, who grew up in the Philadelphia area. She gave an emotional interview after the first game, breaking into tears while talking about how much she loves the city.
The Philadelphia games are the first stop of the new Unrivaled tour, intended to expand the reach of women’s professional basketball. Philadelphia has never had a WNBA team but was awarded an expansion team last year, which is set to begin playing in 2030.