How will we know when the WNBA has ‘made it’?

When we talk about the growth of the WNBA, there are plenty of numbers we can point to.

Record-breaking viewership. Attendance milestones. Franchise valuations. 

These metrics matter. They’re how we sell the league to brands and investors, and they help make the case for women's sports as a whole.

But when it comes to determining whether the WNBA has ‘made it,’ numbers can only do so much. 

‘Making it’ is more than an economic threshold. It means becoming an integral part of American culture. It means not just racking up numbers, but changing the status quo. Not just consistently ‘breaking through,’ but being a part of the mainstream world we take for granted as fans. 

I firmly believe the WNBA is on its way. But it won’t be viewership records that tell us we’ve arrived. 

In 2025, I’ll continue cheering for record numbers. But below are four qualitative signs I’ll be looking out for as proof that we’re truly changing the status quo.

1. Fewer hoodies, more jerseys

There was an era in women’s sports when it felt like a ‘win’ every time an NBA player was spotted in the WNBA’s signature orange hoodie. That era now needs to come to an end. 

The orange hoodie was a brilliant marketing move and will probably always be a staple. At one point, it was even declared the league’s defining symbol. 

But as fun as the hoodie is, it’s a bit like Rob Lowe’s infamous NFL hat. It screams respectful neutrality, rather than die-hard fan. 

Allies wear hoodies. But fans wear jerseys. 

In 2025, you’re already seeing more individual W jerseys out in the wild. (Caitlin Clarks’s Fever jersey reached #2 on Fanatics among all basketball jersey sales).

We’ll know we’ve made it when WNBA jerseys become as ubiquitous as men’s — when we’re seeing them in NBA tunnel walks, in WNBA stands, and out in the streets, being repped by fans.

2. We allow real criticism — and don’t mistake it for cruelty

Too often in women’s sports, we confuse legitimate sports criticism with online hate. I understand how it happens. These athletes are vulnerable to online abuse, and there’s a natural instinct to protect them.

But the healthiest fan cultures have space for debate. For frustration. For arguing over coaching decisions or player slumps. 

One of the best signs of growth last season? The Rookie of the Year debate between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. It dominated the conversation for weeks. Fans cared. People had stats ready. It was real sports talk that you could see on TV and have with your friends.  

Contrast that with this year’s NCAA tournament.

I don’t want to pick on UCLA. But they were the number overall one seed — and they lost by 34 in the semis. 

The media coverage afterwards? It was nothing but praise for the season they’d had. Being in LA, I can tell you that wasn’t how actual fans were talking. 

Imagine Duke’s men’s team losing by 34 in the Final Four. The coverage wouldn’t be about how proud they should be. It would be about what went wrong.

We don’t need to import the toxicity from some corners of men’s sports. But we do need to get to a place where both fans and the media can speak plainly and critically.

Because that’s how you know people actually care.

3. More folk heroes

Superstars matter. They’re the engine that drives sports culture.

But it’s the folk heroes and fan favorites who tell you just how deep a fandom goes. 

On the men’s side, these players are everywhere. They’re the players whose heroics (and antics) set NBA Twitter ablaze, even if they’ll never be regular starters on their team. 

We’re building toward that in the W. Right now, the topline star power is bigger than ever before. Caitlin, A’ja, Angel, Sabrina and more are all household names. But what we need is more stories like Kate Martin. 

Martin is a perfect example of the ‘fan favorite’ player that’s ever present in men’s sports. She went from being Caitlin Clark’s college teammate to a surprise draft pick to a social media magnet on the Aces. Now she’s one of the faces of the Golden State Valkyries. The team might not win a lot of games this season, but people will tune in to see how Martin does. 

Sydney Colson is another player who falls in this category. She’s made a career for herself with her game. But she’s made a name for herself with her one-of-a-kind personality (and hilarious tweets). 

Every league wants more superstars. But they also need fan favorites to build out the world and extend the conversation.

4. Your Uber driver brings it up

This is my gold standard.

If you get in an Uber in Pittsburgh or Dallas or Buffalo, odds are your driver has thoughts about their NFL team. 

Maybe they’re not a superfan. They might not even have watched a game this past season. But they still know what’s going on.

At minimum, they’ll know who the star players are and how the city feels about the team. In all likelihood, they’ll know even more than that – and be ready to tell you what moves they think the team needs to make, who they’d love to trade for, etc. 

I want that for the WNBA.

I want to land in Dallas, hop in a car, and have the driver start talking about how Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale are meshing on the court. 

I want to get in an Uber in Phoenix and have someone listening to a local radio show discussing the Mercury’s offseason moves. 

The bottom line

I want WNBA culture to simply be ‘in the air’ and not something I have to proactively chase down. 

That’s when you know a league has truly arrived — when it’s no longer a cause, but a habit. Not something people remember to support, but something they couldn’t imagine not caring about. 

That’s the leap the WNBA is poised to make in 2025. When the WNBA lives in the background of daily life — in our conversations, our commutes, our jokes, and our group texts — we’ll know it’s no longer breaking through. It’s just there. 

As it should be.