The defending WNBA champion Sky will host the All-Star Game July 10 at noon at Wintrust Arena, the league officially announced Thursday afternoon.
This will be the first year Chicago hosts the game, which was first played in 1999 in New York and saw Lisa Leslie crowned MVP. Since then, it has been played in New York two more times, Connecticut four times and most recently in Las Vegas in back-to-back years.
“This reinforces that our organization has arrived,” Sky coach/general manager James Wade said. “It also says a lot about the culture of our organization. Winning championships is not a fluke and having multiple players play in All-Stars since this coaching staff has been here is exciting.”
Last year the Sky tied with the Connecticut Sun for most players named to the WNBA All-Star team that played against Team USA. Candace Parker made the team for the sixth time, Courtney Vandersloot for the third and Kahleah Copper was a first-time All-Star in 2021. Allie Quigley won her third 3-point contest and vowed that it would be her last.
Wade wanted fans to know he would spend some time working to convince Quigley to come out of retirement from the event for an attempt at her fourth title.
The WNBA MTN Dew 3-point contest and skills challenge will also be held across the street from Wintrust Arena at McCormick Place and be broadcast by ESPN on July 9 at 2 p.m.
Along with the All-Star Game and skills challenges, the league is debuting a two-day, interactive outdoor event they are calling “WNBA Live” at McCormick Place. The 2022 Nike Tournament of Champions and Girls Nike Nationals will be played at McCormick Place the same weekend.
Before Saturday’s 3-point contest and skills challenge, both All-Star teams will participate in an open practice at McCormick Place in front of the participants in the Girls Nike Nationals.
“This is something that’s needed to help connect those lines from younger players to the women’s pro game,” Wade said.
The Sky announced that season ticket holders will get priority access to purchase tickets for Sunday’s game. Tickets will go on sale to the public on May 13 at 11 a.m. on Ticketmaster or at the Wintrust Arena box office.
It was advantageous for the league’s continued evolution to move the game from Las Vegas to Chicago with two premier basketball tournaments taking place on the same weekend. Future WNBA All-Stars could be amongst the young players competing in the Tournament of Champions and Nike Nationals.
Beyond the obvious fan crossover between the youth tournaments and the WNBA, Wintrust Arena sold out for Game 3 and 4 of the WNBA Finals, proving the WNBA’s value and potential for growth in Chicago.
“As we are continuing to grow the footprint of the Sky and the WNBA, there is no better way to do it than to have the great stars of our WNBA galaxy gathered in Chicago for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022,” said Sky President and CEO Adam Fox. “It’s great for the city, great for the league, and it further solidifies our place in the sports fabric here in the city of Chicago.”
