After WNBA win, Phoenix eyes a slam dunk with 2027 NBA All-Star Game

Last July, the Valley was at the center of the women’s basketball world.

Hosts of the 2024 WNBA All-Star Weekend, the city of Phoenix and Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Mat Ishbia wanted to make the event the “best All-Star weekend in WNBA history” to match the league’s surge in popularity last season. Ishbia delivered on his promise, as then-Footprint Center was sold out and watched by an average audience of 3.44 million viewers on ABC, peaking at 4.054 million viewers.

Headlined by the 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s National Team roster facing Team WNBA and a halftime show featuring rapper Pitbull, the ratings smashed the previous record for a WNBA All-Star Game. The 4 million viewers made it the third-most watched single game in WNBA history, behind the league’s first two nationally televised games in 1997. The peak and average viewership both were higher than any game in the highly competitive WNBA Finals series between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx.

Ishbia and the city of Phoenix will soon have the opportunity to put on another show for the basketball world as hosts of the 2027 NBA All-Star Weekend. It’s another marquee sporting event in the Valley, and another potential boost for the local economy.
“The way in which an event is successful for the local economy is the amount of new dollars,” says Anthony Evans, center director of the L. William Seidman Research Institute. “When we had the Final Four here, we had four visiting teams come here over this period of three or four days, and they brought a lot of money into the local economy.”

The impact All-Star games have on the local economy is comparably less than other events, according to Evans, who does economic impact analysis for national sporting events in Phoenix such as the Super Bowl and Final Four with ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business.

Although his team hasn’t analyzed All-Star events in the past, Evans says successful events in the past have created “a whole host of different activities” in the city to attract people. Phoenix hosted a number of events in the downtown area during WNBA All-Star Weekend, and figures to do the same for the NBA showcase in 2027.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport played a role in the city’s preparation, working with the Mercury to promote the game to visitors upon arrival. The airport displayed basketball-themed decorations and an official countdown clock to raise awareness of the event for several weeks leading up to the game.

“Preparation for the 2024 WNBA All-Star Weekend began early on with airport stakeholders and the Host Committee,” says Phoenix Sky Harbor Public Information Officer Eric Everts. “Along with the decorations and visual displays, airport vendors also offered event goods, like clothing, accessories and other promotional souvenirs. The airport shared pertinent information on (its) website and social media channels.”

While the period of preparation is still on the horizon, the airport expects to do more of the same for the 2027 NBA All-Star Game.

Though the ratings matched Ishbia and the city’s efforts to put on a great WNBA All-Star Game, some data released by the Arizona Office of Tourism could hint at a lesser economic impact. In July 2024, statewide gross sales for lodging, restaurant and bar, retail and amusement sectors were all down from July 2023, and Q3 2024 statewide occupancy and demand rates for lodging in Maricopa County both decreased from Q3 2023.

Context played a factor in the WNBA All-Star Game’s ratings, with the league skyrocketing in popularity and the matchup including rookie Caitlyn Clark’s first All-Star experience and WNBA and Mercury legend Diana Taurasi’s last.

In 2027, Phoenix might not hit the same stroke of luck, as the NBA’s ratings, and more specifically the NBA All-Star Game ratings, are on the decline. The 2025 NBA All-Star Game averaged just 4.7 million viewers, a 13% decline from the previous year and the second fewest viewers tuning in to the game since 1990.

As NBA players are constantly shifting teams – including potential changes coming to the Suns roster – it’s difficult to project how the NBA landscape might impact the 2027 All-Star Game in the same manner Clark and Taurasi did in 2024. Although 40-year-old LeBron James hasn’t given any indication of retirement, any sign of 2027 being his final year would likely boost attention around the All-Star Game drastically, including the out-of-market audience.

Despite the WNBA’s rise, the NBA remains more popular and figures to attract more attention from the out-of-state fans.

“It will depend upon how many people it attracts from out of the state to come here and spend money within our zone,” Evans said. “It’ll sell out, I’m sure. I have no doubt it will do very well in terms of attendance.”

PHX Arena has another major booking scheduled for less than a year from now, when Phoenix will host the 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four. The Suns and Mercury are playing supporting roles in the 2026 Phoenix Local Organizing Committee’s preparation for next year’s event.

The turnaround from the 2024 NCAA Men’s Final Four to the 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four could serve as an example for the city’s preparation between the WNBA and NBA All-Star weekend.

“(2024)’s tournament is not only showcasing Arizona’s world-class facilities and hospitality but is also reinforcing the state’s reputation as a premier destination for major sporting events,” said Kim Sabow, president and CEO of Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association.

With the city preparing for the 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four, preparation likely won’t fully start until after April 2026. However, if the WNBA All-Star Weekend and Final Four preparation is any preview, then the Valley will pull out all the stops to put on the best show possible.

“We have a great reputation for putting on these major, major events,” Evans said. “I think the All-Star games will have an impact on the economy. They will drive dollars into the downtown Phoenix area.”

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