A 140% spike in global online searches doesn’t just happen. It gets earned through buzzer-beaters, breakout rookies, sold-out arenas, and a fan base that finally has the infrastructure to match its passion. That’s exactly what the WNBA delivered in 2025, and fresh data from the SportOnSocial Global Sports Properties 2026 report confirms the scale of the shift [SportOnSocial]. Released in late February 2026, the findings land as the league rides record attendance, a 21% jump in TV viewership, and a newly triggered revenue-sharing milestone [SportOnSocial]. The question isn’t whether women’s basketball has arrived. It’s how far ahead of the field it already is.
The Search Spike Heard Everywhere
The headline number is striking: a 140% increase in global online searches for the WNBA across 2025 [SportOnSocial].
Photo by That kind of single-season surge ranks among the most dramatic for any North American sports property in recent memory. It wasn’t driven by one viral moment or controversy. It was sustained, season-long demand.
What made the spike meaningful wasn’t just volume. Fans weren’t idly searching out of curiosity. The searches pointed toward deep engagement:
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Game schedules and streaming access
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Player stats and roster breakdowns
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Ticket availability and merchandise
These are high-intent search categories, the kind that signal fans ready to spend time, money, and attention. Star-driven queries played a massive role too. Marquee athletes became entry points for entirely new audiences discovering the league, turning individual storylines into league-wide digital fuel.
Women’s Sports Rewrites Digital Rules
The WNBA’s performance didn’t exist in isolation.
According to the same SportOnSocial report, 9 out of the top 10 global sports properties for online search growth in 2025 were women’s or mixed-gender competitions [SportOnSocial]. That’s not a trend. It’s a takeover.
TV viewership backed it up. The WNBA posted numbers 21% higher than the 2024 season [SportOnSocial], and streaming platforms reported younger, more digitally native audiences tuning in at record rates. Younger viewers don’t just watch. They clip, share, and amplify content across platforms, extending the reach of every highlight far beyond the broadcast window.
The commercial side responded accordingly. The league generated enough revenue in 2025 to trigger revenue sharing, with the players’ portion landing at roughly $16 million [ESPN]. Sponsors increasingly pointed to search and social metrics as justification for expanding their WNBA partnerships. Digital performance wasn’t a nice bonus anymore. It became the primary investment thesis.
Why This Moment Feels Different
Women’s sports has seen spikes before.
Photo by The 1999 World Cup. The early WNBA years. Olympic cycles. Each time, momentum faded once the spotlight moved on. So what makes 2025 structurally different?
The athletes themselves have become media properties. Angel Reese, for instance, commands more Instagram followers than all 25 members of the United States men’s hockey team combined [Brobible]. That kind of individual reach turns every post, every game, and every off-court appearance into organic league promotion that no marketing budget could replicate.
Media coverage has crossed a critical threshold too. Major networks increased WNBA primetime slots significantly, responding to demonstrated digital demand rather than speculating on potential. And underneath both of those forces, organized fan communities, dedicated accounts, coordinated social campaigns, and vocal advocacy groups have matured into a self-reinforcing engine that amplifies every milestone.
“Women’s sport, led by the WNBA, continues its growth momentum with improved structures, audience accessibility and sustained fan relevance.” [SportOnSocial]
The combination of athlete branding, media validation, and grassroots fandom creates a feedback loop that previous eras simply lacked.
The Future Being Built Right Now
The 140% search surge isn’t a ceiling.
Photo by It’s a foundation.
The WNBA’s expansion pipeline is the most aggressive in its history, backed by ownership groups who see the digital engagement data and recognize a growth asset. New franchises mean new local fan bases, new rivalries, and new search volume, compounding the cycle.
Youth participation in girls’ basketball continues to climb, ensuring the next generation of both players and fans is already invested. Digital-first media rights deals are also positioning the league to own its narrative, accessing viewership data and audience demographics that linear TV partners previously controlled.
All of these threads, expansion, talent pipeline, revenue milestones, and digital-native distribution, point in the same direction: sustained, structural growth with no visible plateau.
The WNBA’s 2025 season produced more than highlights and attendance records. It produced clear proof, in search data, viewership metrics, and revenue milestones, that women’s sports now leads digital attention across the global sports landscape. The athletes built the product. The fans showed up. The numbers followed. For anyone watching where sports media is headed, the data being written in women’s basketball right now is worth paying close attention to.
