The WNBA season has seen unmatched ratings and viewership growth as the league experiences a boom in popularity thanks to Caitlin Clark and a star-studded rookie class.
But approaching the postseason, the question on everyone’s minds was how strong the ratings would be considering the WNBA would have to go head-to-head against the biggest ratings Goliath in America today – the National Football League.
We got our first data point on Sunday with Clark and the Indiana Fever squaring off with the Connecticut Sun in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs. And although Clark and the Fever were blown out in a 93-69 loss to the Sun, viewers showed up anyways.
The game averaged 1.84 million on ABC, a hugely impressive figure considering the strength of the competition.
Confirmed: 1.84M for Fever/Sun from 3-5:09P ET.
The NCAA women’s volleyball from 12:30-2:22p averaged 684K.
WNBA Countdown from 2:22-3P averaged 457K https://t.co/NB3HP2nwGx
— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) September 24, 2024
According to Sports Media Watch, Fever-Sun Game 1 stands as the most watched WNBA playoff game since Game 2 of the 2000 Finals. Additionally, it’s also the most watched WNBA game to ever take place on an NFL Sunday.
In what is a sign of Clark’s starpower, other WNBA playoff games did not fare as well with the Seattle Storm-Las Vegas Aces game leading the rest of the pack with 461,000 viewers.
Don’t shoot (or @) the messenger…
Seattle/Las Vegas: 461K
Atlanta/NY: 410K
Phoenix/Minnesota: 403K https://t.co/yv6iZbm6kO— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) September 24, 2024
Game 2 in the Sun-Fever series takes place on Wednesday night on ESPN, which clears the way from any football competition and could see viewership reach even higher. Naturally, ESPN will be rooting for a Fever victory in the Best-of-3 series to extend Caitlin Clark’s season as long as possible.
