The Dallas Wings will travel to Montreal next month to meet the Toronto Tempo, and it's looking incredibly likely the two teams will break an attendance record in the process of playing their July 10 game. Per USA Today, the match will be held at The Bell Centre, which has a capacity of 22,114 — a number that outstrips the current WNBA attendance record of 22,076.
That numbers difference isn't huge, but it's important. In addition to the likelihood the two teams will exceed the record set twice during the WNBA Finals, the game is also a glimpse of the future of the league. That future includes more international games, more international stars, and more fans of the WNBA around the world.
The league's leadership have not hidden the idea that they hope to continue expanding around the world in come capacity. That may be slow-going, but there have been talks of hosting WNBA games overseas, and finding ways to bring the league to as many countries as possible. Even this upcoming July 10 match is part of that effort: the game is part of the Tempo Cross-Canada Series, which will see the Tempo hosting different teams in cities across the country of Canada.
The series will allow fans who might not otherwise have a chance to see WNBA players in action get to go to a game, and is hopefully a sign of more games played across the country in the future.
A history of WNBA attendance records
If The Bell Centre is at capacity, attendance will outstrip that set during Game 3 of the 2003 Finals, as well as Game 5 of the 2007 Finals. Both of those games were held at The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly just known as The Palace. The storied venue opened in 1988 and was home to the Detroit Pistons and the Detroit Shock; as well as the Vipers, Rockers, Neon/Safari, and Fury. The arena remained famously independent, and was one of two that was never sold to a corporate sponsor (the other is Madison Square Garden).
The last NBA game played at the Palace was on April 10, 2017. The Pistons moved to Little Caesars Arena, and the arena was officially demolished in 2020.
As USA Today also noted, the game will exceed a regular season game attendance record set in Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C., in 2024, when the Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics played in front of 20,711 fans.
Add us as a preferred source on Google