Paris 2024 basketball: Olympic Games comes at perfect time in growth of the women's game
Basketball
Take a look around the women’s basketball quarterfinals at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and you’ll see some newer faces.
Germany, at their very first Olympics in the sport, made it to the quarterfinals. Nigeria is the first African team to make the quarterfinals. Serbia is in just their third Olympics, while Belgium is in their second. Both have a chance at a medal.
Not only are there new faces on the court, there are also more faces in the stands. Following a trend of growing attendance in women’s basketball, group play games in Lille broke attendance records. A total of 410,633 fans showed up for the group games, including 27,193 for France’s game against Australia.
Belgium’s Emma Meesseman grew up in Ypres, less than an hour away from Lille, and was thrilled to not just see fans in the stands again, but to see so many familiar faces.
"Obviously, you want to see the world and go as far as possible sometimes, but that's our plus point now, that you get to share this moment, you get to look at the stands and see the same people like I did at 16 years old in my hometown,” Meesseman said. "That's going to be an incredible feeling, I think, so proud for us, but for them, too. In that way, this is going to be kind of my first Olympics, to get to share that with them.”
It’s not just that women’s basketball is growing here, but that it's growing all over the world. Diana Taurasi, currently playing in her sixth Olympics, spoke on that before Paris 2024.
“I mean, look at this moment we're in right now in sports, in the WNBA. It's unchartered waters for a lot of us. It's pretty amazing to be a part of it,” Taurasi said. “It's always nice to see the game improving, like it is right now.”
Diana Taurasi of the United States looks to pass while defended by Elise Ramette of Belgium during their women's basketball Group C game on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade Pierre Mauroy on 1 August 2024 in Lille, France.
The WNBA and EuroLeague’s role in the sport’s growth
Six of the eight quarterfinal teams have players currently on WNBA rosters or players on WNBA teams who have taken a break from the league to focus on their national teams. As the WNBA has grown in competitiveness, so has worldwide basketball.
At the moment, the WNBA has 12 teams, but is adding two more in the next two years. One of those teams will be in Canada. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert talked about the league’s role in helping the game grow worldwide at the WNBA All-Star Game.
“We know how important it is for us to grow the game globally. And that's why globalization, if you think about media deals, if you think about expansion, you think about other things we have on our agenda," she said. "Globalization of the game is in working with FIBA and other federations to make sure that we're providing that.”
The WNBA isn’t the only league moving women’s basketball forward. The EuroLeague reached new heights in recent seasons. In 2023-24, average attendance went up 18 per cent, with more than three million fans attending games. The league also reached more fans on social media than ever before.
And right at the perfect time comes a thrilling Olympic women’s basketball tournament that shows not just that more fans are watching, but that the game is better than it ever has been. With players like Meesseman, A’ja Wilson and Satou Sabally dominating, showing where women’s basketball is at.