Hi! Are you planning on going to a WNBA game? If so, nice choice!
If you need help figuring out where, when, and how to buy your tickets, you’re in the right spot. I spend way too much time looking at ticket sales websites, trying to figure out where the best seats are in WNBA arenas, and watching ticket prices fluctuate. Basically, I’m that annoying friend who has made ‘buying WNBA tickets’ a hobby.
I absolutely love going to WNBA games with my family. In the past two years, I’ve purchased individual tickets to see:
- Indiana Fever
- Seattle Storm
- Connecticut Sun
- Phoenix Mercury
- Dallas Wings
- Chicago Sky
The arenas I’ve purchased tickets for are:
- Gainbridge Fieldhouse (Indiana Fever)
- Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle Storm)
- Wintrust Arena (Chicago Sky)
- United Center (Chicago Sky)
- PHX Arena (Phoenix Mercury)
I am also excited to have season tickets to the Seattle Storm games this year (Climate Pledge Arena).
So, don’t spend (waste?) your time trying to sort through the info (and in some cases, lack of info). Check out my guide to buying WNBA tickets. I’ve included:
- How to Decide Which Team to Watch + When & Where
- Official Tickets vs Resale Tickets
- When you can buy WNBA tickets
- When you should buy WNBA tickets
- Sites to purchase WNBA tickets from (official and third party)
- Where you should sit
You may also want to check out
Why You Should Take Your Kids to a WNBA Game
Going to a WNBA Game with Kids
Going to an Indiana Fever Game with Kids
Going to a Chicago Sky Game with Kids
Tips for Going to a Seattle Storm Game with Kids
Which Team You Should See + Where & When to See It
You may already know which team you want to watch, where you’ll watch them, and the exact date. However, if you don’t have any concrete plans yet, here are some things to consider:
Nearby Team – Many people choose to see a team that they’re close to physically. If you live in New York, go see a NY Liberty game. If you’ll be in Texas visiting family, try to see a Dallas Wings game.
See a Favorite Player – Are you a fan of a certain WNBA player? If so, you may want to drive or fly to see that player. Or, plan to catch that player when she’s in town playing your local team. My boys and I are huge Caitlin Clark fans, and we’ve seen her play close to home and on the road.
Get Close to the Action – Do you dream watching your team play from courtside seats? If so, you may want to look at prices and seating availability for games in different locations. For example, you will find cheaper seats close to the court at a Seattle Storm vs Connecticut Sun game than you will at a Chicago Sky vs Indiana Fever game.
Watch at a Fun Arena – Of all the games we’ve been to, Gainbridge Fieldhouse has been the most electric. Seattle fans are also really energetic, positive, and fun.
Look at the Total Cost – A game day experience includes tickets, food, transport/parking, and possibly hotels and souvenirs.
Team & Player Rivalries – For example, in 2025 you may want to watch:
- MY Liberty vs the Minnesota Lynx (2024 Finals teams)
- Caitlin Clark’s Indian Fever vs Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky (more of a media formed rivalry)
- Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever vs presumably Paige Buecker’s Dallas Wings
- LV Aces vs Seattle Storm (Jewel Loyd of the Aces was just traded from the Storm)
- LV Aces vs LA Sparks (Kelsey Plum of the Sparks was just traded from the Aces)
Moment in the Season – I prefer early to mid-season. Late season can mean stars spend more time on the bench if playoff positions are already decided.
Spreading Multiple Games Out – I’m always nervous to book back-to-back games in case someone gets injured, but if you’re traveling to see games, you may not have a choice.
Avoiding Holidays & Major Events – You may want to steer clear of holidays, especially if you’re traveling and will need to pay for airfare and hotels. For example, avoid the Indiana Fever’s May 24th game vs the NY Liberty because it’s the same weekend as the Indianapolis 500. Or, skip games over 4th of July weekend or Labor Day weekend.
Learn more in my WNBA Guide for Families
Official Tickets vs. Resale Tickets
Before we get into the sites you can purchase tickets from, it’s important to know that you can buy official tickets and resale tickets. Official tickets are purchased directly from WNBA teams’ official ticket seller – Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster is the WNBA official ticket platform. You can also find resale tickets on Ticketmaster, which means someone is trying to sell their original ticket(s) that he/she purchased from Ticketmaster.
Both Ticketmaster original and resale tickets have fees. Resale tickets typically have much higher prices. One of the big issues right now is resellers scooping up tickets right when they go on sale and then immediately selling them for ridiculously high prices. There are normal folks trying to sell their tickets and they have higher than normal prices because they’re just trying to make their money back but Ticketmaster’s fees are very high. Hopefully the WNBA will instate a policy like some bands do (Pearl Jam) – you can only put your tickets back on Ticketmaster for the same price (so no money can be made from reselling). Until then, we have to deal with insane resale prices.
Ok, so how do you know which tickets are resale vs original? Ticketmaster is the only site that sells official (non-resale) tickets, so any tickets you find on 3rd party sites (more on those below) are resale.
Ticketmaster has both official and resale. Currently, official tickets are BLUE and noted as a ‘Standard Ticket.’ Resale tickets are pink and noted as ‘Verified Resale Ticket.’
You can see examples in this NY Liberty seating chart. The first one has an official ticket marked, and the second seating chart has an adjacent resale ticket marked. Notice the price difference.
There are some good and bad things about official and resale tickets.
| Pros | Cons | |
| OFFICIAL TICKETMASTER TICKET | -dealing directly with Ticketmaster so easier to deal with problems -exact seat numbers marked | -often ‘not-so-great’ seats are released and you don’t know if any better/closer seats will be released -seats may be released in waves so you may make a ‘stress purchase’ and then see better seats show up later |
| RESALE TICKET FROM TICKETMASTER | -exact seat numbers marked -immediate ticket transfer (tickets are in your hands right after you make the purchase) -more seats available earlier (ticket holders put them up for sale before official release of individual tickets) | -high resale fees |
| RESALE TICKET FROM 3RD PARTY SITE | -lower resale fees -more seats available earlier (ticket holders put them up for sale before official release of individual tickets) | -seat numbers not always marked (you could be at far end of a row) -seller may not deliver tickets until hours(!) before the game -if seller doesn’t deliver tickets, you’ll get a refund but won’t have tickets to the game |
What We Do: I prefer to buy directly from Ticketmaster, even though I think the fees are ridiculous. We are typically traveling to games (paying for flights and hotels), so I want/need to make sure we have tickets. That being said, I have purchased from Stubhub a couple of times and have received my tickets well ahead of the games.
Helpful Tip: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. For example, I saw some courtside tickets to Fever games going for around $400 each, when similar seats at that game were selling for thousands of dollars. They were sold quickly, and I saw people complaining that the tickets they received were for different sections. You should also check seating charts to make sure the view’s not obstructed.
When Do WNBA Tickets Go on Sale?
Before selling individual game tickets, teams will typically (in this order):
- Ask the previous year’s season ticket holders if they want to renew
- Accept requests for new season ticket holders (there is often a waiting list, so as soon as you know you want season tickets, call or email to get added to the list)
- Sell to large groups and companies
Once that’s all complete, they will release individual tickets for sale. This is sometimes done as a presale for popular games or rivalries. This year (2025), I noticed some presales beginning in mid-March.
As I write this at the end of March, I see teams have:
- Released some tickets for most games
- Released tickets for a select number of games (for example, Phoenix has done a presale for Fever and Liberty games)
- Upcoming presales scheduled, but you can buy resale tickets already on 3rd party sites
It’s important to note that individual teams decide when their tickets will go on sale for the season. There is not an official date when all individual ticket sales open up for the WNBA. So, you’ll need to pay attention to your team’s Ticketmaster page (presales will usually be noted way in advance), sign up for your team’s email list, or follow WNBA forums and groups. I do all of the those.
When Should I Buy WNBA Tickets?
You can buy tickets as soon as they go on sale or wait and see if resale prices drop.
If you live near a team, it’s easier to be flexible. For example, you could wait until the last minute (literally) and go to the arena before tipoff and buy tickets that scalpers try to sell last minute (to not lose their entire investment). You can end up with some great seats. Note that this is more risky for high profile games (Fever games or other rivalries) – you may end up without a ticket.
If we’ll be traveling to the event and paying for transport and hotel, I buy tickets as soon as possible. If there are resale tickets that are reasonable, I buy them. I also pay close attention to presale releases. I have been disappointed with 2025’s presales though – the Chicago Sky United Center presale was misleading as they released a group of tickets and later released another wave. I made a hasty purchase of not great seats on the first wave because I figured it was my only opportunity (knowing resale prices would be insane). I was also unhappy with the Phoenix Mercury’s presale of the Indiana Fever games. The Tcketmaster resale tickets were less expensive for the sections I was looking at, so I ended up just purchasing them.
I also noticed that tickets this year have gotten much more expensive over time. I remember spotting multiple courtside Fever-Liberty tickets at Barclays Center for around $1000, and now they’re listed for 4-8 times the price.
If you’re excited to follow a specific player from the NCAA to the WNBA, make sure you wait until after the draft, as things like draft pick trades and player injuries can alter where players end up.
What We Do: We travel to most of our games (big Fever fans), so I want to know we’ve got tickets if we’re traveling to watch them play. I just purchased our last tickets for this summer this past week (late March). I purchased our first individual game tickets for the upcoming season in December of last year.
Websites I Use for Buying WNBA Tickets
So, now that you’ve got an idea of who you want to see, when, and where, it’s time to purchase your tickets!
Helpful Tip: If you aren’t tied to a particular date, take a look at different dates and locations, because you may find huge price differences!
Ticketmaster – I feel the most comfortable buying from Ticketmaster because it’s the official seller, so I know if I buy a ticket here, it’s legit. The fees are high though. I also like to buy resale tickets here too, because I know I will get the tickets (immediate transfer).
Stubhub – Stubhub tends to have a large selection of resale tickets for WNBA games. I do not like that the seller doesn’t have to have tickets in hand to sell them (see the official policy on Stubhub’s site). This typically happens when season ticket holders sell before their tickets are in their account. The risk with Stubhub is that you’ll buy tickets but not get them. You’ll eventually get a refund, but you may not get to go to the game. That being said, I’ve made a couple of purchases from Stubhub and have gotten my tickets fairly soon after purchase (but once I had to make a big stink to get them delivered before 2 hours pre-tip off). I also don’t like that if you buy a portion of a row, you get the worst tickets. For example, if there are seats 1-8 available in a row, they’ll give you seats 1 and 2 before the more central (better) seats.
Game Time – I like the Game Time interface and that you can see the map with ‘all-in’ pricing, which includes fees.
Seat Geek – A seller must have tickets in his/her account already. They must be uploaded to Seat Geek and they’re automatically transferred to the buyer.
Vivid Seats – I haven’t made any purchases yet, but I have used Vivid Seats for price comparisons.
RateYourSeats – I only use this to look at photos of seat views, but they also are a 3rd party reseller.
Facebook – You may be able to find a ticket exchange group, but you need to be on high alert for scammers. I have not chosen to use Facebook yet, but I have seen some good deals and some groups are very active.
In summary:
| What I Like | What I Don’t Like | |
| Ticketmaster | -official ticket sale site for WNBA -easy to compare official (blue) tickets to resale (pink) tickets -you get to choose the actual seat (vs. just the row) | -high fees -limited filter options |
| Stubhub | -used by many resellers, so good selection of resale tickets -customer service is responsive in my experience -can include fees in total price when searching -can search ‘any’ for number of tickets, which is helpful if you don’t know your exact group size eyt | -sellers can sell tickets without actually having them -sellers aren’t required to disclose actual seat numbers (just the row) -if you buy from a group of tickets, you get the worst ones -often ‘recommended seats’ filter is automatically applied, so you have to go in and clear it to see everything available |
| SeatGeek | -seat values displayed by color (green/yellow/red) and by number (1-10) -can exclude seats with obstructed views -can show price including fees when searching | -no seat photos (have to use another site) -sellers aren’t required to disclose actual seat |
| GameTime | -view ‘all-in’ pricing on map -‘super deals’ are starred on map | -have to choose how many tickets when looking at seating chart/availability -photos aren’t always accurate -all seats are marked as mid-row on map, which can be deceiving -sellers aren’t required to disclose actual seat |
| Vivid Seats | -can filter for front row of section or instant delivery | -map doesn’t show rows or individual seats -sellers aren’t required to disclose actual seat |
What I Do: I have purchased individual game tickets through Ticketmaster (both original tickets and resale tickets) and Stubhub. I also regularly look on SeatGeek and GameTime. I compare prices (fees included) and prefer to have immediate transfer of the tickets. I have sold tickets (for games we couldn’t attend) on Ticketmaster.
Important: Take a look at Trustpilot for the company you’re thinking of purchasing from. Reviews may help you decide which company to purchase from.
Deciding Where to Sit at a WNBA Game
Most WNBA arenas have great seats no matter where you decide to sit, but here are some things to consider:
- In larger arenas (like the LA Sparks’ Crypto.com Arena), upper level seats will feel far away from the action. If you’re just excited to be there and soak up the atmosphere, you’ll be fine. But, if you want to really see the game, you should try to sit closer in those settings. In smaller arenas like Wintrust Arena (Chicago Sky) or arenas that were designed for basketball like Gainbridge Fieldhouse (Indiana Fever), seats in upper levels won’t feel as far removed from the action.
- If you want to see or hear the players, sit closer. This will obviously come at a higher cost, but if it’s a bucket list game for you, you may want to pay extra to sit closer.
- Not all courtside seats are at the front. Sometimes there are multiple rows of courtside seats. Keep in mind you’ll have some obstacles in your way (like refs), and if you’re in the second (or third, or fourth) row of courtside seats, you may not be able to see over the person in front of you.
- If you want to see the bench, sit on the opposite side of the court.
- Seat numbers often ascend toward the next section up (but always verify at your arena). For example, if Section 16 has 20 rows, seats 19 and 20 are next to the aisle of Section 17. It’s good to know when looking at maps that don’t show individual seats.
What We Do: I prefer to sit close to mid-court, and if possible, a few rows to 10-ish rows up. This isn’t always possible because of high costs, but it’s what I like best. I like to get close enough to see the players well. I also prefer to have a view of the bench from across the court (vs sitting behind the benches). If we will be traveling to the game and I’m not able to get close enough, we’ll watch from home (we have the WNBA League Pass). That being said, if we only had a particular date/team/venue free on our schedule, I’d happily sit anywhere in the arena (as long as the view wasn’t obstructed) just to be able to soak up the energy and excitement of watching a WNBA game live!
Before buying tickets, I recommend checking out the arena’s seating chart. I like A View From My Seat, because you can see photos from the seats and read what people say about the seats. You can go to the WNBA links, or look at the NBA links (usually more photos and seats rated). I also look at Rate Your Seats.
Some arenas also have interactive seating charts.
Good To Know: You may find it’s cheaper to travel to an away game (flight or drive + hotel) to see a game and sit close to the court than to sit in the upper levels at a home game.
Going to a Fever Game? Check out my Kids’ Guide to Getting Caitlin Clark’s Autograph at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
More WNBA Ticket Resources
- Reddit – you can look at the main WNBA Reddit or specific teams. Not all teams are very active, but if you post a ticket/seating/arena question, you’ll probably get an answer.
- Auctions – I’ve found some by Googling, but you can also look in your community.
I hope helps you get your tickets to a WNBA game! It can be kind of confusing, and hopefully teams will work on a more unified ticket sales program in the future. Until then, have fun at the game you choose!
