As expected, the deciding Game 5 of the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx drew the largest audience of the series.
After seeing viewership increases in each successive game of the series, it was no surprise that the Game 5 rubber match between the Liberty and Lynx set another WNBA Finals record on Sunday night. As first reported by Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, Game 5 averaged 2.15 million viewers on ESPN.
Clinching Game 5 of Liberty-Lynx WNBA Finals drew 2.15 million viewers on Sunday night on ESPN (up against NFL, MLB)
🔲 Outside top 10 WNBA games all-time
🔲 ESPN’s 2nd-best playoff game ever (behind 2.5M for 2024 Fever-Sun 1st round Game 2)
🔲 ESPN’s best WNBA Finals game ever— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) October 22, 2024
Sunday night’s game was the most-watched WNBA Finals matchup ever on ESPN, and the most-watched on any network since 1998.
The game ranks as the fourth most-watched WNBA Finals game in history behind Game 3 of the New York Liberty and Houston Comets in 1999 (3.25 million on NBC, best-of-three series), another Liberty-Comets game in 1997 (2.85 million on NBC, best-of-one series), and Game 2 of the Phoenix Mercury and Houston Comets in 1998 (2.26 million on NBC, best-of-three series).
The Liberty’s overtime win on Sunday ranked as the second most-watched WNBA playoff game ever on ESPN behind Game 2 of the first round series between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun earlier this season, a game which featured superstar Caitlin Clark.
As noted by Karp, the series finale falls outside of the ten most-watched WNBA games of all-time (Fever-Sun Game 2 ranks tenth all-time with 2.54 million viewers). The most-watched WNBA game of all-time was during the league’s inaugural weekend in 1997 when the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks averaged 5.04 million viewers on NBC. Outside of the league’s debut weekend in 1997, the most-watched game of all-time was this season’s WNBA All-Star Game, which averaged 3.44 million viewers on ABC.
It should also be noted, Game 5 went head-to-head with two other major sporting events on Sunday night. Sunday Night Football between the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers on NBC and Game 6 of the NLCS between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers on FS1 both aired directly against the WNBA Finals on ESPN, making the record-setting number even more impressive.
Per Sports Media Watch, Sunday’s Game 5 is the 32nd WNBA telecast this season to average an audience over one-million viewers. Seven of those telecasts have not featured or followed Caitlin Clark, including all five WNBA Finals games.
The number caps off what has been a banner season for the WNBA. Prior to this season, the league had not reached a single one-million viewer audience since 2008. The WNBA Finals had not reached that threshold since 2003.
However, the season’s success may not be entirely sunshine and rainbows for the league. On Monday, the WNBA’s players association decided to opt-out of its current collective bargaining agreement with the league. A new deal must be reached prior to the conclusion of next season, or a work stoppage looms.
One would think that the league’s newfound viewership success, along with a new set of media rights agreements set to begin in 2026, would be enough incentive for both sides to reach a new deal. Though history would tell us, CBA negotiations are never as easy as they seem, and there could be significant hurdles to overcome before inking a deal.
But for today, the league can enjoy its fifth multi-decade viewership record in as many games. The WNBA’s upwards trajectory is real. Whether the league and players can now capitalize on it is the question.
