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The 2026 WNBA All-Star Weekend is less than two weeks away—and tickets for the 3-Point Contest and Shooting Stars (formerly the Skills Challenge) are more expensive than the actual All-Star Game.
The get-in ticket price for the WNBA 3-Point Contest and Shooting Stars on Friday, July 24 is $110, a tick above the $105 get-in price for the WNBA All-Star Game the following day, according to TicketData.
A key reason for the slightly more expensive Friday night is the venue. The contests will be played at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena, which fits about 10,500 fans, while the All-Star Game the following night will be played at the United Center, which can hold more than 20,000.
But the $100+ get-in price for Friday night is still significantly more expensive than in previous years, including at last year’s WNBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis. The get-in price was $25 at the same point in the calendar, and fell to $12 on gameday. Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which has a capacity of more than 17,200, was not sold out for the Friday events last year, drawing an attendance of about 15,000.
The last time the WNBA All-Star weekend was in Chicago was in 2022, but there’s no way to compare it with this year’s Friday contest tickets. That year, the public was not allowed access to All-Star Friday, which was held inside McCormick Place, a convention center across Wintrust Arena. It was an invite-only event, and commissioner Cathy Engelbert said security concerns were the main reason for keeping the event private.
One factor missing that may drastically shift All-Star weekend prices: The participants for this year’s 3-Point Contest and Shooting Stars have not yet been announced.
Caitlin Clark skipped the contest in her rookie season, but said she would participate last year because All-Star weekend was held in Indiana. However, an injury sustained a few days before All-Star Weekend forced her to withdraw the day before the 3-Point Contest. She was replaced by teammate Lexie Hull.
Defending 3-Point Contest champion and two-time winner Sabrina Ionescu’s status for Friday’s events is also unclear since she was not named an All-Star this year. Other than Hull, all of the 2025 contest participants were All-Stars: Ionescu, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Sonia Citron.
A league source told Front Office Sports that there is no set date to announce participants yet. Last year, the league announced participants three days before the contest.
Affordable All-Star Game
Despite the WNBA’s recent surge in popularity, the All-Star Game is still a significantly more affordable ticket compared to the showcases of other major sports leagues.
The get-in price for MLB’s All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Philadelphia reached four-figures, according to TicketData. While that’s an anomaly compared to other MLB All-Star Games, the WNBA’s $105 get-in ticket is still significantly cheaper than the NHL’s last two exhibitions in Toronto and Florida, which started at about $200, and a fraction of the cheapest ticket to any of the four most recent NBA All-Star Games, which started around $600.
That doesn’t mean there is little demand for this year’s WNBA All-Star event. SeatGeek told FOS that it has seen a 53% increase in order volume for this year’s All-Star game compared to last year at the same point.
And compared to the 2022 All-Star game in Chicago, held at Wintrust Arena, order volume increased nine times, according to SeatGeek.
“Demand for WNBA All-Star Weekend keeps climbing year over year as ticket orders for this year’s game in Chicago are pacing well ahead of last year’s in Indy at the same point,” SeatGeek senior content analyst Max Meyer told FOS. “Caitlin Clark is one of the biggest draws in sports and few tickets offer this kind of value: a chance to see her, A’ja Wilson, Paige Bueckers, and the rest of the league’s top stars on one floor, at a fraction of the price of NBA or MLB All-Star events.”
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