Paige Bueckers Effect already impacting Dallas Wings ecosystem, teammates

The GIST: It’s only been a few weeks since Paige Bueckers was drafted to the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, but the entire ecosystem is already benefiting from the “Bueckers Effect.”

• 🏟️ Recently, the Dallas Wings announced that they would open their upper deck at College Park Center to meet the demand for ticket sales for the team’s home opener against the Minnesota Lynx on May 16th. That makes Bueckers a BFD. The aforementioned Lynx? They only opened their upper deck for two special occasions last season: The WNBA Finals and when Caitlin Clark came to town. In elite company.

• 🎟️ So far, the WNBA’s average ticket price is reportedly up 43% YoY at $173 a pop, and the Wings boast the highest average home ticket price after drafting Bueckers earlier this month. In March, the team upgraded their June 27th game against Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever to the 20K-seater American Airlines Center, home of the NBA’s Mavericks.

• And according to SeatGeek, there’s been a 905% surge in traffic for Wings tickets, and ticket prices for the first showdown between Bueckers and Clark are averaging $449 on VividSeats. Sheesh.

• ♥️ Bueckers’ hometown of Hopkins, Minnesota, is renaming the town “Paige Bueckers” for a day on May 16th when the rookie plays the Minnesota Lynx in her WNBA debut. During Clark’s four years playing college in her home state of Iowa, she generated an estimated $52.3M in state GDP — Minnesota should also benefit each time Bueckers returns home.

Zooming out: Teaming up with Bueckers is a no-brainer for brands, but it’s important to keep in mind that Paige is a team player. When Bueckers was at UConn, she was at the center of team-wide deals like with beauty partner Madison Reed and Fortnite creator Epic Games.

• Bueckers’ arrival in Dallas is already amplifying her star teammates with trendy TikToks, something she did often at UConn. This weekend, Bueckers tried out a new trend with Arike Ogunbowale (pronounced Ah-REE-kay Oh-goon-bow-WAH-lay), Maddy Siegrist, and Tyasha Harris, which is already making the rounds on social media. Ready to fly.