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Joe Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai, are staples in New York Liberty home games. Since they bought the franchise in 2019, Liberty fans often spot the couple courtside, and the two were among the team's biggest cheerleaders during Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.
A few years after Tsai, who is worth $9.4B according to Forbes, took ownership, the team secured its first championship. His wife Clara addressed the fans during the Liberty’s celebration inside Barclays Center on Sunday.
“When we bought the team four years ago, they were playing at Westchester County Center to a crowd of 2000. And the first thing we wanted to do was bring the team to Barclays Center so that they could have a bigger stage," she said.
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"And then we wanted to give them facilities and performance and nutrition and everything that they deserved because they’re such elite professional athletes.”
In 2018, the New York Liberty moved out of Madison Square Garden when former owner James Dolan sold the team. Joe Tsai purchased 49% of the team that year before completing the remaining 51% in 2019. Before Tsai brought the team to Barclays Center in 2020, the Liberty played their home games at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York.
The Liberty’s former home floor could only seat less than 4,500 spectators. Game 5 of the WNBA Finals at Barclays had a sellout crowd of 18,090.
Joe Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai, steadily built a championship-winning team
Joe Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai, experienced their first playoffs as Liberty team owners in 2021. That year, the team lost in the first round of the playoffs but gave the Phoenix Mercury a tough fight before losing 83-82.
The following year, they lost again in the first round, prompting the couple to retool the roster. The team signed Breanna Stewart during the 2023 free agency and traded for Jonquel Jones, who won the 2024 WNBA Finals MVP. With Sabrina Ionescu, the No. 1 pick in 2020, the Liberty finally had a championship-contending team.
Joe Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai, put the team on one of the WNBA’s biggest stages and their players delivered. Four years after calling Barclays Center their home, the Liberty have become champions.
