Wintrust Arena was painted pink Friday to celebrate the Sky’s Barbie theme night. All of the 10,387 seats were covered in rally towels the shade of the iconic doll’s signature color. They were being waved by attendees donning Barbie-themed looks.
The night — which included a pregame panel, in-game activations and giveaways — celebrated women in sports, but there was no ignoring one woman’s impact in particular: Sky rookie Angel Reese.
Before she was dubbed “Chi-Town Barbie” Reese’s well-known moniker was the “Bayou Barbie.”
“I didn’t know what my expectations were when coming to Chicago,” Reese said. “To come in and be a rookie, enjoy every moment and get better every day, but being able to see off the court how much I’ve been able to impact the community, how the Sky has embraced me so much. I haven’t seen a lot of organizations where they incorporate who somebody is off the court.”
Wednesday night was the latest in a long line of examples of how Reese is leveraging her brand.
This week, she launched her podcast, “Unapologetically.” As the host, she said she’s looking forward to using her voice to share more about who she is on and off the court. She’ll be releasing episodes every Thursday that will also feature special guests.
The week before, she debuted a collaboration with Reebok and a partnership with Reese’s candy, inspired in part by her fans dubbing themselves the “Reese’s Pieces.”
“Reebok has stood on business about me,” Reese said. “Everything I wanted creative control over, I’ve gotten. Shaq told me I was going to be the face of Reebok and I continue to do that.”
Reese’s off-the-court business ventures are an example of how she revolutionized the WNBA.
Reese is responsible for a surge in viewership and ratings along with Fever rookie Caitlin Clark. The Sky’s two point loss to the Aces drew 1.22 million viewers. It was the most-watched game of the season that did not feature Clark and the Fever. It was the 21st broadcast this season to average at least one million viewers. Before the 2024 season, a WNBA game had not surpassed one million viewers since 2008.
Reese and Clark’s impact was further reflected Friday night in the price of tickets, which had a price tag of as high as $3,552 less than 20 minutes before tipoff.
Chennedy Carter update
Carter missed her second consecutive game due to health and safety protocols Friday night.
The Sky tested the team for COVID-19 following a canceled practice earlier in the week due to multiple players feeling ill. Carter was the only player who landed on the Sky’s injury report. Throughout the week players and coach Teresa Weatherspoon have been wearing masks as a precaution during practice and on the team’s bench during Wednesday’s loss to the Mystics.
“We’re not quite sure at the moment,” Weatherspoon said when asked if the team expects her to be available for their game on Sunday against the Lynx. “We’re just trying to make sure that she’s better.”
The Sky have a two-game road trip — against the Lynx and the Aces — following Friday’s against the Fever. They are scheduled to fly to Minnesota on Saturday. It’s unclear if she can fly this weekend, but general manager Jeff Pagliocca said they will get her to upcoming games “as soon as she feels able.”