ATLANTA — There has never been a better time to be a women’s basketball fan. Atlanta Dream fans know that well. Fresh off the team’s first WNBA playoff appearance since 2018, they sold out their season tickets for this year. They are only the second team in WNBA history to accomplish that feat.
“The energy is unmatched. I’m just so excited for this season. It’s really going to be special,” Atlanta Dream guard Jordin Canada said.
The Dream are fresh off a playoff appearance in 2023, return many of their stars from a season ago and have also made some brand new additions hoping to take the team to new heights this year.
“These players that have been with us, they got a taste of the postseason last year, and I think there’s a seriousness, there’s a competitiveness, there’s a hunger about them now having been with us for a while that we think that combined that with the new additions, it will make us even more competitive this year,” Dream General Manager Dan Padover explained.
There is a chemistry and obvious camaraderie with this team that makes them enjoyable as well. One of the new faces, Jordin Canada, was acquired in a trade in February from the Los Angeles Sparks. She’s a 2-time WNBA Champion who was drafted in 2018 and has seen a tremendous change in the league from then to now.
“I think a lot of people are starting to invest in women’s sports and realize that the talent that we have as professionals and even as amateurs and college athletes," Canada said. "We’re getting a lot of viewership."
The women’s college basketball championship is another example of the rise, with viewership peaking at 24.1 million. It was the most-watched basketball game at any level since 2019.
“I’m watching history be made every single day from the beginning of the college women’s basketball season up until now and seeing how much attention it has gotten. Then, carrying over into the league. It’s only going up from here,” Atlanta Dream forward Cheyenne Parker-Tyus said.
There are plenty of opportunities to watch the Atlanta Dream in action this season -- starting with two preseason games, hosting the Washington Mystics on May 4, then traveling to Indianapolis to face Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on May 10.