As the Minnesota Lynx returned from Atlanta after winning the 2011 WNBA championship, hundreds of fans greeted the team at the airport. The next day, the Lynx were honored on the field at a Minnesota Vikings game. A few days later, the franchise held its first championship parade to commemorate the team’s first title.
Longtime Minnesota coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve wasn’t sure what to expect when she hit the parade route. The parades, for the WNBA champions, “were unheard of,” she said. She was worried: would anyone be there?
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However, approximately 15,000 fans came out to greet the Lynx as they moved through downtown. Reeve, reflecting on the celebration with four Minnesota WNBA championships now on her resume, can still hear the crowd.
“We took this corner, and when I saw the people, I said, ‘Holy shit. Boy, have we come a long way.’ But it speaks to the community. That’s when I really started to think, “Okay, this is a cool community.” »
This community Reeve is referring to is one of the most loyal in women’s sport.
Tuesday, Athletics revealed its ranking of the 10 best women’s sports cities in the United States Minneapolis/St. Paul placed No. 2, along with perennial contender Lynx among a loaded field of professional and collegiate teams.
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The area is also home to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who have won six national championships in women’s hockey. Frost of the PWHL and Aurora of the USL W-League draw crowds. The LOVB recently announced that Minneapolis was awarded a professional volleyball expansion franchise.
The Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sports at the University of Minnesota has also produced numerous seminal research studies, with a stated mission to “accelerate change for girls and women in sports.”
As part of exploring the cities on the list, Athletics spoke with Reeve about what it’s been like watching Minneapolis women’s sports fandom grow, the synergy between area teams and what it means to coach in front of the fan base.
(This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.)
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The Lynx hired you in April 2009, after having previously coached for more than two decades as an assistant or head coach at the collegiate and WNBA levels. What were your first impressions of the Minneapolis/St. Paul’s fan base, and what was it like coaching in the area?
Even before I arrived in Minneapolis, the fan interest was palpable. When I was here as a visitor, playing against the team, they always had sort of a rabid fan base that was very, very interested. But we needed to get more. We had to kind of expand on that.
One thing Lindsay Whalen (former University of Minnesota and Minnesota Lynx star) said to me when we traded for her in 2010, she said, “Coach, win and they will come.” She was right. Obviously, she also experienced it with the Final Four with her and Janel McCarville.
The run to the 2004 Final Four for the Golden Gophers is historic and remains the school’s only national semifinal appearance. Speaking of the university, what role do you think it would play in the region’s continued interest in women’s sports?
The University of Minnesota has a long-standing commitment to women’s sports. They have a legendary administrator (Chris Voelz). They have the Tucker Center, which has been a wonderful resource for me in providing information. This is not the case in all professional sports cities where there is university in addition to professional sports. Sometimes college really took a back seat. The U does not. Title IX is something they have always been committed to, as have their facilities. This has always seemed obvious to me.
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Would you also go to their sporting events?
I played every sport, whether it was professional sports or University of Minnesota sports. Obviously, I’ve been to basketball games, I’ve been to hockey games. It’s the right thing to do. We’re all partners, which I think is really, really special. It is part of the social fabric. It’s not about supporting something. This is not a campaign. It’s just done, right?
It’s a natural thing for this community. Did I know that when I moved here? No, I knew there was a very committed university. But it is common for people to talk about their understanding and knowledge and attend games.
Why do you think tons of PR campaigns aren’t needed in Minneapolis to rally support?
I think there are several things. I think you can look at the administrators. There were separate athletic departments at the university. There was a female lead and a male lead, and I think having done it so many years ago laid the groundwork. When you separate yourself, like they did with the athletic department, you get all your attention on someone who stands for that.
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We talk about leading the way and being pioneers; it was a very big part. But you also need to have a community ready to be interested. There is no judgment; there is an open-mindedness. There is no label dedicated to women’s sport.
How have you seen your interest evolve over time after starting with the Lynx? Have you noticed any differences in support when comparing the 2011 title and the 2017 Lynx title?
There is no doubt about it. The 2011 one kind of surprised people, didn’t it? And we didn’t yet have everyone who was going to be part of the trip. I come from the depths of the WNBA, if you will, after not being drafted and going out of business in Detroit, so fast forward to 2011, winning a championship, and we’re going to have a parade.
And I remember getting on the bus and there were things I didn’t say, but there were things that really, really worried me. Was anyone going to be there? I only attended a small party after my victory in Detroit. Are we having a parade? For how many blocks?
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But I remember arriving, I think it was Hennepin Avenue, and that was our staging area, and I was looking at (team president) Carly Knox and I was like, “Carly, is anyone here?” Has anyone checked? I didn’t want our players to experience something terrible.
And I guess things grew from there?
So from 2011 to 2017 there was an increase in fandom, awareness, everything else. Place the Lynx in the same spaces as the others in the city. We didn’t have to do it. They did it for us. We were able to convince a lot of fans, maybe college sports fans, to support us.
I remember winning the championship in 2015 at home really changed things. Whalen and I said we used to go out into the community, and they would know who Lindsay is when she goes to the grocery store or Starbucks or whatever, and I would get similar recognition. But when we won in 2015 at home, it reached a whole new level.
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Fast forward to today, there isn’t a time I leave my house without meeting someone. I’m walking down the street, or if I’m driving, someone is on the corner and sees me, they yell, “Come on Lynx.” It’s incredible.
It seems that the synergy between the city’s teams is important.
It’s not a competition. The Timberwolves support the Twins and obviously us. And for us, the Twins are always Lynx fans. We share a lot of seasons together, and so we team up and say, “OK, how can we establish the best playing time?” » Because their fan base would be affected if there were conflicts, our fan base could be affected. We all support each other. Synergy is a good word.
What about support over the past two years?
Unprecedented.
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Because I’ve been here so many years, 16 years here, the dynasty team, the nature of the Hall of Famers, including Maya Moore. This team, the connection they feel with the city is super, super special. I can’t stand here and tell you I knew that.
But when we got to the end of 2024, so many people told me that when I went to get my makeup done for the game, everywhere I went the narrative was the same: different people from different segments of the community saying how much joy the team brought them.
They told stories of watch parties all over town. You might see this for the NFL. But we’re experiencing it, and now people, restaurant owners, bar owners, are naming things in honor of players and all these really special things.
And that support came even with two crushing season-ending defeats?
This year we celebrated the end of our season. It’s not something we’ve ever done before. And we did it because when your season ends on the road, it’s really heartbreaking for the fans and for the people who really care about you.
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Even though it sounds like a parade of losers, it wasn’t about that. It was about recognizing the community and what they thought of our team. It wasn’t for the players. It was for the fans. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. They wanted another chance to celebrate with us.
This article was originally published in Athletics.
Minnesota Lynx, WNBA, sports business
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