PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Mercury featured the largest increase in ticket revenue per game of any WNBA team this season and sold more than 1,000 new full season tickets, most in the league, according to the team's announcement Friday.
The Mercury featured the league's highest full-season ticket revenue and the franchise's highest mark since 1998. Phoenix sold out its courtside front-row seats at US Airways Center for the first time in franchise history.
"Our numbers this season at the turnstiles, on television and online were the result of an organization-wide effort and representative of the state of our franchise and the league as a whole,” said Mercury president and COO Amber Cox. “The collective, committed effort of everyone from ownership to staff allowed us to set a new standard upon which we will continue to build."
The Mercury's nearly 10 percent increase in attendance was second best in the league overall, and they added to that in the playoffs, averaging 9,560 fans in two home playoff games, including 11,110 on Sept. 21 against the Sparks for the team's best-attended first-round home playoff game in 15 seasons. Excitement about the Mercury was not just limited to Phoenix fans, as the Mercury led the league in road attendance. Other teams added courtside seats and dynamically priced up the Mercury's visit, many recording their top attendance nights of the season when Phoenix was in town.
Additionally, PhoenixMercury.com was the most visited site in the WNBA, as the Mercury led the league in pages views, visits and unique visitors by a wide margin. PhoenixMercury.com accounted for more than 17 percent of total WNBA website traffic.
League ratings on ESPN2 increased 28 percent overall in 2013; Phoenix was featured on national television the maximum six times, and the debut of rookie sensation and No. 1 overall pick Brittney Griner garnered the highest viewership for a regular-season WNBA game since 2004.
Griner's jersey was the league's top seller in 2013, and Mercury jerseys overall were the second-best sellers in the league.
On the court, Phoenix had two players, Griner and Diana Taurasi, voted to start the WNBA All-Star Game for the first time in franchise history. Griner set a WNBA single-game record with two dunks in game and also averaged a franchise-record 3.0 blocks per contest, becoming just the second player in league history to reach that mark and the first since 2002. Taurasi, meanwhile, became the first player in league history to average at least 20.0 points and 6.0 assists in the same season and the first to finish ranked in the top two in both categories since the league's inception. All told, Taurasi averaged 20.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists.
After some early inconsistency, a midseason coaching change vaulted the Mercury to a 9-4 close to the regular season under Russ Pennell, the best 13-game start to a head coaching tenure in franchise history. The Mercury compiled a 6-1 regular-season home record under Pennell, the best home start to a head coaching tenure in franchise history, and no WNBA team held opponents to a lower field-goal percentage than the Mercury's 38.1 percent allowed in Pennell's 13 games.
