The WNBA might have missed an enormous opportunity to promote the league’s growth by not televising a historic Sparks-Sun matchup in Boston’s TD Garden. Unsurprisingly, DiJonai Carrington promptly ripped them for it.
For context, Tuesday’s Sparks-Sun game was the first time a WNBA game was held in the Boston Celtics’ home arena. That’s awesome by itself, but what’s even better is playing in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,125 fans. Earlier in the day, Carrington seemed shocked that so many people would come out to see the Sparks take on the Sun, but she welcomed the moment.
Per Noa Dalzell of SB Nation, DiJonai shared these thoughts with the media:
“We don’t have any…media superstars, and we’re still able to garner this type of attention… It really just shows how much this city loves sports, and it doesn’t matter what sport, what gender — they’re going to show up and show out for sports teams.”
DiJonai Carrington was surprised that TD Garden sold out:
“It really just shows how much this city loves sports. It doesn’t matter what sport, what gender — they’re going to show up and show out.”
“I thought we were going to cover up the whole top part above the boxes.” pic.twitter.com/1focoEykbg
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) August 20, 2024
But Carrington seemingly had more feelings about the moment.
Hours before the game, she called out the WNBA for not promoting the event to larger audiences — it was only available on X (formerly Twitter) and League Pass.
Since we gotta do our own promo…
We’re playing at the @tdgarden tonight & it’s SOLD OUT 19k+. First W game here ever. Historic. Not on tv, but you can catch it right here on twitter. 🙃 @WNBA— dιjonaι carrιngтon♛ (@DijonaiVictoria) August 20, 2024
Still, she wasn’t done. Following the Sun’s win, Carrington doubled down on her frustrations. Here’s what she said:
“I’mma keep it real all the time, and I feel like Connecticut as a franchise is historically disrespected. So, sometimes…if you want something, you gotta go out there and do it yourself. So, that’s what I did for us.”
“I think that there could have been a lot more publicity or promo from the top…The game should have been on the national television broadcast. You shouldn’t have to pay for any type of subscription to see a game that’s this historic, in my opinion.”
DiJonai Carrington was asked about calling out the WNBA for not sufficiently promoting this game:
“The game should have been on the national television broadcast. You should’t have to pay for any type of subscription to see a game that’s this historic, in my opinion.” https://t.co/iff6dMBKna pic.twitter.com/gA9A4zRTuI
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) August 21, 2024
BOSTONNNNNN said yall don’t need no promooooooo !!! ikdr! WE ❤️ YALL🥹🥹🥹🥰
be back sooooon, hopefully 🤞🏽— dιjonaι carrιngтon♛ (@DijonaiVictoria) August 21, 2024
