Sky Set Franchise Attendance Record During First WNBA Game at United Center

A sellout crowd of 19,496 fans watched the Fever take down the Sky at the United Center Saturday.

Chicago Sky center Cardoso battles for the ball with Indiana Fever forward Boston during tip-off of a WNBA game at United Center. / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Although the Chicago Sky's game against the Indiana Fever didn't go the way they had hoped Saturday night, they made history by playing the first WNBA game at United Center. A sellout crowd of 19,496 fans set an attendance record for the Sky.

The United Center has a capacity of 20,917 for basketball games, which would have set a WNBA regular season attendance record. According to a report from Front Office Sports' Annie Costabile, the United Center is undergoing minor construction which limited ticket sales for the contest.

Still, the attendance number Saturday easily set a franchise record for the Sky. According to Across the Timeline, their previous attendance record was 16,444 fans back in 2016 when the team still played at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. The Sky moved to Wintrust Arena in 2018—where they remain today—which has a capacity of 10,387.

Sky-Fever Saturday night at United Center became the 16th highest attended regular season game in WNBA history. Although the Sky couldn't get the win, playing at the United Center was a special moment for the franchise.

"The atmosphere was great," Sky coach Tyler Marsh during his postgame press conference Saturday night. "The fans got to see an important game for history. ... We're grateful for being a part of this experience—at the same time, we're not satisfied with the outcome. We appreciate the moment, but we're looking forward to getting back after it and redeeming what we had tonight."

The Fever were a part of the No. 1 attended regular season game, as they helped set the record last season when they traveled to play the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena in front of 20,711 fans. Two WNBA finals games in Detroit had 22,076 fans in 2003 and '07, which still stand as the most attended games in league history.

The Sky fell to 2-5 this season with the 79-52 blowout loss to the Fever Saturday night. Veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot went down with a scary knee injury during the first quarter which soured the night for the Sky. They await news on the severity of the injury to their lead guard, potentially staring down extended time without the five-time All-Star. Should Vandersloot miss an extended period, the Sky may have to look toward rookie point guard Hailey Van Lith, who played 26 minutes Saturday.

Heading into Saturday, Chicago came off a two-game win streak where they picked up back-to-back games against the Dallas Wings for their first wins of the season. They now travel to New York to play the defending champion Liberty for their next game, which tips off Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

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