By Jordan Coburn<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sam Frick lives more than 600 miles from Atlanta and before this year had never attended a women\u2019s basketball game. Now he\u2019s one of the 17,000 members of the Atlanta Dream\u2019s Fan HQ page on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Indiana resident saw the Dream play the Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis in May. Atlanta trailed by as many as 19 points before mounting a second-half comeback and taking its first lead with just 21 seconds remaining. When Angel Reese blocked the Lynx\u2019s final shot to seal a 91-90 Dream victory, Frick was hooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHonestly, that very first game at Minnesota made me a believer,\u201d Frick said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women\u2019s basketball is drawing more fans across the country. During the All-Star break, the league reached a record-breaking 73 million viewers on national broadcasts. But the Dream in particular is having a moment. The superstar forward\u2019s arrival brought one of the league\u2019s biggest stars to Atlanta, while the team\u2019s fifth place standing in the WNBA make the Dream a championship contender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kevin Earley has watched the new fans pour in. The Atlanta resident started the Dream Fan HQ Facebook group two years ago as a place to share his experiences attending games. As recently as April, it had fewer than 1,000 members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce Angel Reese\u2019s trade went through, the page began to blow up,\u201d Earley said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earley, a season ticket holder, says he became a Dream fan because of his daughter. The group now brings together fans who arrived with Reese and longtime supporters who have followed the Dream for years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chris Davis, an Atlanta native who has been a fan of the Dream since its inaugural season in 2008, is also considered a Dream Elite member, a status given to season-ticket holders. To him, the Dream is more than just a team. It\u2019s a community that feels like family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSome of the players knew me by my first name, and I even got to hang out with a few of them,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t get experiences like that very often.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dream\u2019s fanbase has even caught Reese\u2019s attention. She showed her appreciation for the fan group after they all wore pink during the teams matchup against the Las Vegas Aces on Aug. 3 to celebrate girlhood and women\u2019s sports. That game drew more than 17,000 attendees, prompting the organization to move the game from the smaller Gateway Center Arena to State Farm arena, where the Atlanta Hawks play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSeeing an entire arena PINK for my very own Barbie was truly a dream come true,\u201d Reese posted on social media. \u201cSince I\u2019ve been in ATL, y\u2019all have shown me nothing but love and I\u2019m so thankful for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Davis first started attending games, he remembers rarely seeing other men like himself in the stands. As a straight Black man, he often found himself defending the league to friends who didn’t follow women’s basketball. Now he says it feels completely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou see fans from every background, arenas are packed, celebrities are courtside, games are on national TV, and ticket prices have definitely gone up,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s great for the league even if my wallet misses the old days.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even as the team\u2019s popularity has grown, newer fans have formed deep connections with the Dream beyond the stands. Earley\u2019s daughter Ky was recently featured in a photo on the team\u2019s online store for back-to-school youth apparel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many fans around the country admire the team from a distance but at the same time get excited about the possibility of traveling to watch the Dream play a home game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I personally have not been to one of their games yet. I would love to attend in person someday,\u201d said Frick\u2019s sister Tera. \u201cBut what I am seeing on the screen it looks like a total vibe especially when you see everyone swag surfing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For other fans, watching through a screen is entertaining enough, like Frick who plans to continue cheering them on from Albion, Indiana. With the Dream\u2019s success this year, he believes the team can win their first championship ring <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven through their weaknesses, you can see the vision of a great team being built in front of our eyes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"