The New York Liberty secured their first WNBA title in franchise history on Sunday night after beating the Minnesota Lynx, 67–62, in an overtime win in Game 5 of the finals.
New York City plans to celebrate the Liberty accordingly with a championship parade this week. As it will be the team’s first ever championship parade, the Liberty’s fans will surely go all out for their team.
Here’s all you need to know about the Liberty’s championship parade, which will run on Thursday, Oct. 24.
It was an intense 2024 WNBA Finals between the Liberty and the Lynx. Minnesota captured Game 1 in overtime, which set the stage for a close and down-to-the-wire finals series. New York responded by dominating in Game 2 by winning 80–66.
The two teams traveled to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4, which the teams split once again. The Liberty won Game 3, 80–77, thanks to a last-second three-pointer made by Sabrina Ionescu. Then they dropped Game 4, 82–80.
Game 5 was arguably the most nerve-wracking game for WNBA fans as a late controversial foul on Breanna Stewart allowed her to make two free throws to send the game to overtime. The Liberty held the Lynx back in overtime to win 67–62 and capture the WNBA title.
Date: Thursday, Oct. 24Time: 10 a.m. ET
The Liberty’s championship parade will be hosted on Thursday, Oct. 24 beginning at 10 a.m. ET. The parade is expected to end its route around noon ET.
The parade will start at Battery Park in Manhattan and continue north along Broadway to City Hall. The team’s championship ceremony will take place at City Hall following the parade route at noon. The entire parade route is less than a mile long.
The route will pass through the “Canyon of Heroes,” which is an area of New York that every sports celebration parade has passed through. There are plaques to commemorate those teams, meaning the Liberty will get their own now.
The Liberty’s parade will be known as a “ticker-tape parade” in New York, which the city has hosted over 200 of in the past 100-plus years. People line up on Broadway on this route and throw ticker-tape out of windows for a cool effect. The first ticker-tape parade was held in 1886 for the dedication of the Statue of Liberty.
The ticker-tape parades have celebrated many historical figures and moments over the past century, but they are now mostly known for sports teams celebrating championships. The last team to have a ticker-tape parade was the United States women’s soccer team celebrating their 2019 World Cup win. The most recent ticker-tape parade, though, took place in 2021 for COVID-19 first responders.
The championship parade will begin the day’s festivities at 10 a.m. ET. Right after the conclusion of the parade, the Liberty players will speak to fans at City Hall to celebrate the title. Some of the team’s top players like Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart or Finals MVP Jonquel Jones will likely speak to the crowd, along with head coach Sandy Brondello.
Later in the evening at 7 p.m. ET, the Liberty will reconvene at their home at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to host a celebration with the fans.
The championship parade itself is free to attend to fans. However, fans interested in attending the City Hall celebration or fan celebration at the Barclays Center will need to claim tickets here.
Because the parade route is less than a mile, fans will likely need to arrive at the route quite early in order to secure a good position to see the players.
The New York Police Department will likely begin Broadway street closings around 6 a.m. on Thursday morning. “No Parking” zones will be put into place in the area beginning at 12 a.m. that morning.
The city will close the Brooklyn Bridge (Manhattan Bound) Centre Street exit, along with the Park Row entrance to the bridge during the parade. The best way to access the Brooklyn Bridge is from the Frankfort Street/Pearl Street entrance.
TV Channel: Fox 5 NY (local), TBD (national)Live Stream: Fox5NY.com
Fox 5 New York will begin broadcasting the Liberty’s parade locally at 10 a.m. ET when the parade is scheduled to start. Fans can also watch on their website.
