Chicago Sky preseason live stream on X underscores incredible boom for WNBA, women’s hoops

Watching a WNBA basketball game on a grainy live stream through X a month after the women's Final Four games broke records is mind-boggling to think about. But both happened.

WNBA League Pass didn't carry the preseason game on Friday night between the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx. Fans were furious and frustrated because they wanted to watch the new rookies Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso make their WNBA debuts. So they found an alternative way to watch: a fan in the crowd's live stream on X, which was being filmed on her cellphone.

It's all thanks to user @heyheyitsalli, who shared a post before the game started about the WNBA not showing the game on WNBA League Pass as it was announced originally. She then asked in another post if she should stream the game. That then turned into a two-hour video stream of the game from their seats.

The stream was viewed over 800,000 times on Friday night and was reposted over 2,300 times. It even was on Sue Bird's timeline and she reposted it.

The user who taped the game, Alli, was starstruck after she realized the numbers that came in from her live stream.

In-arena live stream of Sky-Lynx preseason game shows WNBA's immense growth

The WNBA apologized for the error on their behalf, but they continued to urge fans to watch Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever for their preseason game. This did not end well for the WNBA, as fans replied by using the hashtag #theWismorethanoneplayer. This seems to refer to Clark and the heavy marketing of herself and the Fever this season.

After the game, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve spoke about the troubling aspects of the live stream.

“The growth is happening so fast, it’s so accelerated. Business as usual isn’t going to work anymore, you’re going to get left behind,” Reeve said about the league’s broadcasting limitations. “This is an example. … We have to capitalize on those things.”

Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon also spoke on the live stream, similar to Reeve, and was glad many fans tuned in to watch.

Fans were excited to watch the new rookies. The two are still getting adjusted to professional basketball, but Reese scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Cardoso had six points and four rebounds coming off the bench.

A significant reason, though, why some games might not be airing on TV is due to their conflict with Bally Sports North. BSN was airing the Minnesota Twins Game instead of the Lynx-Sky preseason game.

It is hoped that the WNBA can grow with the booming influx of fans, as well as the popularity, talent, and curiosity of fans. But they need to start off by doing better and putting themselves in a position to give the fans the opportunity to stream the games.