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The New York Liberty reversed course and issued a full refund to Julie Potter after the team unilaterally modified a scoreboard message the artist had purchased for $100 during an Aug. 22 game against Indiana at Barclays Center. Potter, a lesbian hip-hop musician, had submitted the message “Thank you Jennifer Sey! XX-XY Athletics will Save the Day!!” for display during halftime after the team initially approved it and accepted her payment on Aug. 17.
One day before the scheduled game, Liberty sales representatives contacted Potter to inform her the message had been changed to read: “Thank you Jennifer Sey, thank you for all you do for XX-XY Athletics.” The team subsequently refunded Potter’s payment on Aug. 21 after she objected to the alteration and requested either the original message be displayed or her money returned.
Potter, who also purchased 25 tickets for the game at a cost exceeding $2,000 to support forward Sophie Cunningham, characterized the team’s action as censorship. She noted that the Liberty had not provided specific guidance about which words violated their content standards and questioned why she should pay for the team to speak on her behalf.
In its explanation, the Liberty sales team stated that scoreboard messages must contain “positive, celebratory content” and that submissions potentially violating that standard are ineligible. Potter acknowledged her message carried broader implications about protecting female sports categories, though she deliberately omitted Cunningham’s name to avoid triggering objections.
XX-XY Athletics is an apparel company founded by Jennifer Sey, a former national champion gymnast and ex-Levi Strauss & Co. brand president. The company advocates for excluding transgender athletes from female sports competitions—a position that has generated both rallies and counterprotests at recent WNBA games.
Potter announced she would no longer purchase Liberty tickets but plans to attend Saturday’s game with supporters before directing future spending toward the Indiana Fever and other organizations aligned with her position on women’s sports. She emphasized her affection for the Liberty organization while criticizing what she characterized as selective treatment of fan expression.
The incident coincides with heightened scrutiny of WNBA fan experiences. Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter Friday to league leadership addressing recent confrontations involving Cunningham supporters in Seattle and Atlanta, where security personnel instructed fans to cover XX-XY Athletics apparel. The WNBA subsequently acknowledged the Atlanta incident “should not have happened” and suspended Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton for five home games.
Potter’s long history with professional women’s basketball dates to the league’s inception. She attended the inaugural WNBA game on June 21, 1997, when the New York Liberty defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 67-57 at the Great Western Forum, and witnessed the Sparks’ first franchise victory four days later. Potter said her current support follows Cunningham’s activism rather than any particular franchise loyalty.
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