WNBA Finals proves fans tough it out even as leagues don't deserve them

Atlanta Dream's Angel Reese, right, looks to pass past Golden State Valkyries' Kaitlyn Chen during the first half of Game 6 of the WNBA basketball finals on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) (Brynn Anderson/Associated Press) The fans found a way. In the middle of a workday, with less than a week's notice, they packed an arena in Atlanta on Thursday, and over breakfast on the other side of the continent they packed a bunch of sports bars, too.No matter how hard those in charge might make it sometimes, lots of folks choose to love the game anyway. Whether the game deserves them or not.This is in part about the WNBA Finals, which soared in popularity despite the baffling ineptitude of the people running them, but it's about much more than that. In the days and weeks leading up to the Atlanta Dream being forced to play a matinee to push the Golden State Valkyries to Saturday night's Game 7, we saw the following developments in other sports:The Milwaukee Brewers, an all-time great team providing a long-suffering fan base with an all-time great moment, prevailed in a feel-good World Series about to give way to what figures to be yet another of Major League Baseball's messy work stoppages.The NBA, continuing to sell both its soul and the financial security of its fan base to the sports gambling industry, added a pair of prediction markets to its list of betting partnerships, all under the guise of "protecting the integrity of the game."The College Football Playoff, looking out for the job security of administrators and coaches more than the interest of either players or viewers, made a move toward expanding toward a 24-team format that almost nobody seems to want.And the NFL kept finding ways to employ players accused of disturbing off-the-field transgressions, even while horrific new alleged details kept emerging about a running back who'd just been cleared to return.It shouldn't be this difficult. It shouldn't be this exhausting. Following your favorite team shouldn't be an exercise in being told, again and again, that your opinion and your scruples and your convenience and your wallet don't matter. Fans watch as players are introduced before Game 6 of the WNBA Finals between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream at State Farm Arena, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, in Atlanta, Ga. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP) (Stephen Lam/Associated Press) A lack of planning by the people in charge means a potentially title-clinching Game 6 of the WNBA Finals will tip off at 9:30 a.m. on a weekday in the home city of the potential champions?Deal with it.A never-ending string of betting promotions means you can't even watch a game anymore without being repeatedly reminding that your team wants you to lose your paycheck?Deal with it.The auction of broadcast rights to every streaming service known to man means you need to keep a half-dozen subscriptions to watch the team you've been following for a half-century?Deal with it.If there is a source of comfort for justifiably perturbed WNBA fans this week, it's that they're not alone in this. Granted, the circumstances that led to the Dream and Valkyries having to play Game 6 early on Thursday - to make way for a Cavaliers-Hawks game later that night - were especially egregious.But just like fans of other dysfunctional sports, they still showed up. All 17,099 seats in State Farm Arena were filled for a game that didn't have a set time or location until a few days before, and as hard as it might have been to find on TV, people at home tuned in, too.The 1.5 million viewers who watched across the USA network, E!, SyFy and Peacock made Game 6 the fifth most-watched WNBA Finals game in history, a bit short of the record 2.1 million who watched Game 1. The WNBA isn't close to the NFL in terms of popularity, but no other sports league is. And if it would just get out of its own way, it might realize just how many people are eager to embrace it, imperfections and all. Fans attend the Golden State Valkyries' watch party at Chase Center's Thrive City plaza, Thursday morning, Oct. 29, 2026, in San Francisco, to watch a broadcast of the Game 6 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Atlanta Dream. (AP Photo/Janie McCauley) Photo taken with a smartphone. (Janie McCauley/Associated Press) Through all of the leadership missteps, fans have stuck it out, but they have their limits. After the 2025 college football season posted massive TV ratings, those numbers came down in the first month of 2026, and it was easy to understand why. An expanded playoff has reduced the appeal of high-profile early-season nonconference matchups. The diehards watch, but the ratings often come down to the size of the markets involved, which is what's happened in pro basketball and baseball in recent yearsOver the past decade, the World Series and the NBA Finals have gone back in forth in terms of TV supremacy. In 2025, a Dodgers-Yankees series outdrew a Thunder-Pacers one. In 2026, Knicks-Spurs beat Brewers-Rays. It probably isn't a coincidence that both of the two higher-rated series featured a team from New York.But the point is that depending on the biggest ratings draws is no way to run a league. More than 10 million people watched the Brewers hoist a trophy, and almost that many watched the Thunder do it, and one might argue that those are the viewers who most love the game. Those are the fans who'll keep looking for reasons to stick around.Unless they finally get tired of being pushed away.SubscribeThere’s more to San Antonio with the Express-News. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at WNBA Finals proves fans tough it out even as leagues don't deserve them.