N.Y. Liberty CEO: WNBA’s Breakout Year Fueled by Covid Bubble, Rookie Class

The New York Liberty are having an explosive year on and off the court, taking the No. 1 spot heading into the WNBA playoffs, averaging the second-highest attendance in the league, and gaining national attention for their effervescent mascot, Ellie the Elephant.

The way team CEO Keia Clarke sees it, the story of this year really began in the 2020 “Wubble” (WNBA bubble) season, shortly after the Liberty got new ownership in Joe and Clara Wu Tsai, who also own the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets.

That was finally the year the WNBA broke through to new fans, with average TV viewership increasing 68% from the year before. “It really was a bubble season during a crisis in the world and there was a captive audience,” Clarke said during an FOS in-studio interview in New York, “and that was really, well, duh, if you build it, they will watch.”

During that time is also when the Tsais started building on what Clarke describes as a “shoestring of a staff.” Clarke calls the Tsais “the best owners in this league, and maybe in all of women’s sports, in my opinion.”

The next season, the Liberty permanently moved to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. This March, the team announced a new TV partnership with local broadcast network WNYW to reach a wider audience.

Then came the “match that lit the fire,” in Clarke’s words: this season’s rookie class. 

“Caitlin, no question. Angel, no question. We had been just begging for that crossover from the NCAA tournament to leak into the WNBA draft for many, many years,” Clarke says. “I’ve been involved in this league for nearly 19 years… a decade ago, we would host the draft in the same city as the Final Four at one point, and it just never took off. We needed the right mindset, time, and space. I truly believe we needed that graduality, that buildup, that lead-in for this moment to be what it is right now.”

Clarke says she’s proud of the in-game experience fans get when they come to a Liberty game, and she doesn’t mind whether they’re a longtime supporter, new WNBA fan, or cheering for an opposing player.

The crowd sizes are such that the Liberty opened up some portion of the upper seating at the Barclays Center for every home game this season, Clarke says. The team has an advantage over some others in the league like the Atlanta Dream, Dallas Wings, and Washington Mystics in that they always have the capacity for a full-sized arena at their disposal, should they sell enough tickets.

“Full arena sellouts every single night is the plan,” Clarke says, adding that her players say they count on the fan base to create the atmosphere they need.

The longtime Liberty staffer says it’s “validating” and “redemptive” to see new owners across sports finally realizing the long-term investment value in women’s sports, from the WNBA to the NWSL and beyond.

“[To] be a part of what will ultimately go down in history as a turning point in professional sports,” she says, “I’m so proud to say that I’ve been here in the WNBA doing just that.”