Game 6 of the WNBA Finals is slated to tip off at 12:30pm EST (9:30am PST) on Thursday.
The game was moved up because of scheduling conflicts at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. This comes just a few days after game 4 was moved up a few hours to avoid a conflict. The early start for game 6 means many fans will miss the game because of work or school commitments. The entire game will be played before noon for fans on the West Coast, including local fans of the Golden State Valkyries.
The awkward weekday time slot might seem more appropriate for an emerging sport, but the reality is that the WNBA should now be considered one of the major U.S. pro leagues following its growth over the past few years.
We previously showed that the WNBA saw the largest single-year increase in fandom of any sport since Sports Poll™ began tracking fan bases in 1994.
The league added 17 million fans when Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese joined the league in 2024, and they’ve added another four million fans since then. The league has also become a higher priority for those fans with four million Americans naming the WNBA as their single favorite sport in 2026. With other young stars entering the league and rising interest in women’s sports, there should be greater opportunities to drive fandom even higher.
The short-term impact of an early Finals game is that it will likely limit viewership for the league’s marquee event, but the bigger concern is that it robs potential new fans of exposure to the league at the biggest moment of the season. Our research has shown that championship events like this play a critical role in driving initial interest for new fans, especially young fans.
Reach out to us if you’d like more information on the WNBA or other women’s sports we track on Sports Poll™ .
Sports Poll by SSRS™ is conducted continuously throughout the year and includes a nationally representative sample of more than 24,000 Americans each year.
