WNBA
Do all WNBA teams fly commercial?
In the past, cost concerns have meant the WNBA has always primarily used commercial airlines... however, that may be set to change.
Traditionally, WNBA teams have flown to games using commercial airlines with the league aware that not all clubs have the economic muscle to afford regular charter flights.
This policy was relaxed at the end of the 2023 season during the playoff campaign with a concentrated amount of games being played in a short window.
Things may be about to change though and as the 2024 season looms, interest in women’s basketball has never been higher and much of this attention is due to Caitlin Clark.
In April of this year, th 22-year-old Clark became a professional player in the WNBA when she was selected by Indiana Fever with the number 1 pick in the 2024 Draft.
The former University of Iowa star was twice named National Player of the Year and set a record for points in college basketball in both the men’s and women’s categories by scoring a total of 3,951, more than any other basketball player in history and was instrumental in seeing 18.9 million viewers tuning into the NCAA final between Iowa and South Carolina.
The Des Moines native has also boosted WNBA ticket demand with StubHub claiming that demand for 2004 game tickets has increased by 93%.
However, the growing visibility of the league and the media attention on Clark will have an impact on security and this was a point not lost on Indiana general manager Lin Dunn as she spoke about security at team’s media day earlier this week.
“The Fever organization has done a really good job getting out ahead of things,” Clark said. “There’s gonna be a lot of security traveling with us. There will be certain plans of how we’re going to navigate going through airports and things like that. It’s not just for us; it’s for everybody in the WNBA. Everybody is dealing with the same thing. The popularity of our league is continuing to grow ... that’s a positive thing, too; you want people to be excited about our game.”
It seems inevitable that the ongoing success of the WNBA both on and off court will lead to teams taking charter flights and ensure their start players avoid layovers, early starts, cramped seats and delays in getting to and from games.