{"id":269227,"date":"2025-10-01T13:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T13:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/269227\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T13:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T13:08:10","slug":"these-couples-fell-in-love-while-watching-wnba-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/269227\/","title":{"rendered":"These Couples Fell In Love While Watching WNBA Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the past few seasons, the WNBA has become a true juggernaut, with fans flocking to games and joining watch parties at local bars. The league is even bringing people together romantically, from dating app users adding their interest in the W to their profiles to women\u2019s sports bars like A Bar of Their Own<\/a> in Minneapolis hosting speed-dating events<\/a> to help fans meet each other. Last season, meanwhile, the New York Liberty partnered with Bumble<\/a> to hold a singles mixer. Here, eight couples tell us how the WNBA has been important to their relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m opening a women\u2019s sports bar, and she became an investor.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nora, 35, Chicago, Illinois<\/p>\n

My girlfriend Morgan and I were introduced by my realtor at the preseason game for the Chicago Sky. I\u2019m opening a women\u2019s sports bar called Babe\u2019s<\/a>, and she became an investor. We go to every home game together. For her birthday, I wrote her a novella called Courtside Connection about our relationship because she loves those sappy sapphic romance books. I have been threatening to throw a self-published book party for it at Babe\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWNBA games are like lesbian Disneyland.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ian Maule\/Getty Images Sport\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nicole, 38, Las Vegas, Nevada<\/p>\n

Last fall, I dusted off the apps for my biannual attempt at dating and updated my Hinge with \u201cAces playoffs tickets, who wants to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

I had season tickets and always joked it was unfair we had to buy them in pairs because that was like a single-lady tax. So I decided to try and use the tickets to eventually fill my seat. WNBA games are like lesbian Disneyland, so it seemed fitting.<\/p>\n

My first date with Myra was at an Aces game last year on Oct. 4, and this year we are watching as a newly engaged couple. Needless to say, the tickets worked!<\/p>\n

\u201cSwitching my ticket subscription to sit with him instead of with my mother was as significant as moving in with him.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rebecca, 41, Woodhaven, New York<\/p>\n

During the August 2003 blackout in the Northeast, I took up chatting with Glenn, who was next to me outside Madison Square Garden while we waited to find out if there would be a Liberty game that night. Our paths crossed again the next season when the Liberty had to temporarily vacate the Garden to accommodate the Republican National Convention. We left together in a summer storm with only a Styrofoam caricature of George W. Bush to protect us from the pouring rain.<\/p>\n

Our first date was after the Liberty\u2019s final regular season home game of 2004 \u2014 in different sections. Switching my subscription to sit with him instead of with my mother was as significant as moving in with him. A placard from Teresa Weatherspoon Night stands guard over our front door.<\/p>\n

We got married in 2011. The wedding was in Liberty colors. We talked the judge into quoting Pat Summitt instead of Ecclesiastes. He wrote me Liberty-themed love poetry. What else was I supposed to do but keep him?<\/p>\n

\u201cI was delightfully surprised to see my now-fianc\u00e9e on one knee in our favorite arena.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maggie, 31, Mesa, Arizona<\/p>\n

Michelle wasn\u2019t a fan of basketball, but became one through my love of the sport. She even proposed to me last month at a game! She told me we had been chosen for an \u201cin-game entertainment\u201d situation, and I said, \u201cI\u2019m not really feeling it this evening after a long day of work.\u201d All I would have to do is hold a ball for the PHX Extreme Team to grab and dunk. I saw how important this was to her, so I agreed.<\/p>\n

They blindfolded me, I held the ball up, I felt Scorch\u2019s furry little hands touching my face, and before I knew it, I was delightfully surprised to see my now-fianc\u00e9e on one knee in our favorite arena. I said yes, of course, and got so many congratulations from fans as we walked back to our seats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve met a lot of friends through it. One is in her 80s, and the whole section texts her to make sure she gets home safe.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nicolette Mason<\/p>\n

Nicolette, 39, Brooklyn, New York<\/p>\n

I grew up playing basketball. In 2023, I went to a Liberty game with a few friends and had the best time ever. I basically went to every single home game after that. I was asking my wife, Nina, who is historically not a big sports person, \u201cWould you please come with me?\u201d At first, she wasn\u2019t super interested, but then she came and immediately fell in love with the energy. It\u2019s become a huge source of entertainment and something we really love sharing with each other.<\/p>\n

Now, we\u2019re season ticket holders, and we\u2019ve met a lot of friends through it. One is in her 80s, and the whole section texts her to make sure she gets home safe. There are not a lot of opportunities to feel patriotic right now, but we were really stoked to do a watch party for the Olympic team. It was a Sunday morning, and we invited a bunch of people over for brunch. We all need a lot more intentional joyfulness and community-building, and for us, basketball has become an extension of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraveling to watch games has been a really fun experience for us.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lyndsay, 32, Calgary, Alberta<\/p>\n

The W was really integral in my coming-out experience, and so having a partner who loves the league as much as I do is really wonderful. Nevine and I don\u2019t live close to any WNBA cities, so traveling to watch games has been a really fun experience for us until recently. We live in Canada, and even though she\u2019s a citizen, we\u2019ve been a little hesitant to cross the border due to the fact that she was born in Sudan (a country whose citizens are currently banned from entering the United States). We are excited to have a Canadian team to root for next season when the Toronto Tempo joins the league!<\/p>\n

\u201cThe very first picture [we] took together was a selfie at a Lynx game in 2014.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Laura, 35, Minneapolis, Minnesota<\/p>\n

The very first picture my spouse Julia and I took together was a selfie at a Lynx game on one of our early dates in 2014. It\u2019s the most awkward and endearing photo we\u2019ve ever taken, and I love it so much \u2014 you can just feel that new relationship awkwardness in it. We were so young and cute.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had one of our first kisses while watching a playoff game.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carolyn, 36, Chicago, Illinois<\/p>\n

Andi and I began dating after I invited them to go to a Sky game during the 2021-22 season. We had one of our first kisses while watching a playoff game \u2014 I think the Sky were away at the Aces.<\/p>\n

We did our engagement photos in our Sky gear. The team printed and signed them, and the mascot, Skye the Lioness, presented us with the picture at the Pride game. We even had a Love and Basketball-themed wedding shower, and got married on a basketball court at our local community center!<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make a whole date night out of it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meredith Wilshire<\/p>\n

Meredith, 29, Brooklyn, New York<\/p>\n

My boyfriend Matt and I are big Liberty fans! We go to as many games as we can, we have to wear merch, and we make a whole date night out of it. We even saw them win the WNBA Championship last year. After the game, everyone spilled into the streets and bars, cheering and celebrating as the bartenders and other people kept asking, \u201cDid we win?\u201d I used to live right next to the Barclays Center and would pass the players on the street frequently, so it felt like watching neighbors win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moral of this story is, I should\u2019ve just listened to my wife.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andrea, 41, San Francisco, California<\/p>\n

Kalei has been a WNBA fan since 1996, but I\u2019d never paid much attention to the WNBA. So all this time, my poor wife has mostly had to watch the games on her laptop in the kitchen while the kids and I took over the TV.<\/p>\n

But then, the Golden State Valkyries came to town. Did I watch the draft? No. Did I watch all the pre-season hype? Also no. Did I even pay attention to the first one to two months of the season? Negative. But then she said, \u201cHey, let\u2019s go to a game.\u201d<\/p>\n

What have I been doing sleeping on this incredible league all these years? Chase Center was giving me 2000s San Francisco queer culture flashbacks in the best way. My wife probably wanted to say \u201cI told you so!\u201d about 5,000 more times than she did, but she refrained. We went to so many home games, we watched so much League Pass, I learned to rage at WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert over scheduling, I yelled \u201cPAY THE PLAYERS,\u201d and I cried when Kayla Thornton hurt her knee.<\/p>\n

The moral of this story is, I should\u2019ve just listened to my wife when she said the WNBA is unmatched. I\u2019m going to keep doing my best to make up for lost time \u2014 and going forward, of course, listen better to my wife.<\/p>\n

These interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity.<\/p>\n

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