The WNBA's popularity surge has a map -- and it doesn't always follow the standings.
Fresh of our Most Hated WNBA Players campaign, RotoWire pinned down the single most loved player in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., weighing jersey sales, home-state allegiance, college-program loyalty, and regional pull for the league's biggest stars.
The result is a coast-to-coast portrait of fandom that stretches across 21 different players.
A'ja Wilson sits at the center of it. The Las Vegas star claims eight states -- more than anyone else -- anchored by her Nevada home base and South Carolina college roots, then spreading across the Mountain West through Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. No other player comes close to that footprint.
Angel Reese and Napheesa Collier State by State Fan Favorites
Behind her, two stars tie for second at five states apiece. Napheesa Collier owns the Plains and Upper Midwest -- Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota -- while Angel Reese blankets the South, taking Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Maryland.
Caitlin Clark Regional Popularity and WNBA Fan Loyalty Trends
The biggest surprise is who isn't near the top. Caitlin Clark, arguably the league's largest commercial draw, lands just two states: Indiana, home of her Fever, and Iowa, where she rewrote the college record book. It's a sharp reminder that "most loved" rewards regional roots as much as national fame.
How A Home State Roots Shape WNBA Fandom
The map's real charm is its spread. Nine players own a single state outright -- from Azzi Fudd in Virginia and Olivia Miles in Pennsylvania to Kelsey Mitchell in Ohio, Arike Ogunbowale in Wisconsin, and Kiki Iriafen doubling up in Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. Brittney Griner quietly locks down all of New England, winning Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, while Paige Bueckers pulls in four of her own in Arkansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Put together, the picks tell a bigger story: a league whose fan bases are no longer clustered around a handful of legacy franchises. Loyalty now runs on college pipelines, hometown pride, and breakout rookies as much as team success -- and 21 players carrying their own corner of the country is the clearest sign yet of how wide the WNBA's map has grown.
