Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso’s WNBA debuts for the Chicago Sky drew big numbers despite an initial hiccup by the WNBA.
On Friday night, when the Sky faced the Minnesota Lynx in their preseason opener, the WNBA’s streaming app did not air the game, despite listing that all preseason tilts would be watchable from the app.
Fortunately for those looking to tune in, one fan started a live stream on their cell phone while at the game in Minneapolis.
“Would y’all want me to try and stream the game on here??” @heyheyitsalli posted. “No promises on the quality but i can try.”
There are more than 545,000 views listed on the video as of Sunday morning and 2.4 million views on the post.
“Y’all these are some of THE WILDEST numbers WOW,” she posted on Friday night past 10 p.m. to show that her X stats reported 173,381 live viewers at the time.
The league apologized for the faux pas and clarified that only Caitlin Clark’s debut with the Indiana Fever was being streamed.
Many stars within the league and outside chimed in on the widely seen Sky-Lynx stream, including four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird.
“This is amazing,” Bird wrote on X. “I hope you got that mophie!”
Reese, who was selected seventh overall by the Sky in the 2024 WNBA Draft last month, scored 13 points and went 2 of 7 shooting in Chicago’s 92-81 loss.
Former South Carolina star Cardoso, the third overall pick in the draft, had six points on 3 of 5 shooting.
At the New York Liberty’s media day on Saturday afternoon, several players gave their take on the state of the league amid the surge in excitement around the sport, including Sabrina Ionescu, who said the WNBA “dropped the ball” and should provide an explanation to the preseason confusion.
Elsewhere, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve added fans should have paid the user $3 per view.
“Anybody that watched it should send three bucks to the person, I don’t even know who it is,” Reeve said. “I think that what I would say is that the growth is happening so fast. It’s so accelerated. And I’ve been saying this in our own organization — that business as usual isn’t going to work anymore. You’re gonna get left behind, and this is an example.
She added the league is “not just about Caitlin [Clark],” acknowledging it’s not the former Iowa star’s fault, but rather the league take advantage of the new momentum “to ensure that this is a movement.”
“This is a learning process for all of us,” Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. “And we’re going through that process in the right way. We got our leaders leading them, pulling them along. Keeping them confident. That’s what matters. So we’re in a great place, and they’re in a hell of a great place.”
The Sky will host the Liberty in a preseason game set for Tuesday at 8 p.m.
