Nothing can slow down the momentum of the WNBA on television as ratings continue to soar.
The league held its annual All-Star Game this past weekend, and it seemed like, yet again, that most of the conversation surrounding the WNBA was on off-court drama. On one side, another frenzied Caitlin Clark discourse was spreading like wildfire across social media, the internet, and television. Elsewhere, embattled commissioner Cathy Engelbert was facing more pressure to step down sooner or later.
But thankfully for the WNBA, these ongoing dramas can’t stop the rise in popularity women’s basketball has seen in recent years.
According to Austin Karp at the Sports Business Journal, across the WNBA’s rights partners in the first year of its new television contracts, the league is up a total of 12% compared to last season at the All-Star Break.
The increase in ratings is led by NBC. Although the network has shown just four games, they have averaged 1.5 million viewers. A similar story was seen during the past NBA season, where increased broadcast exposure from NBC was a key cog in lifting the men’s game to generational heights in television viewership. CBS and ABC/ESPN also averaged well over 1 million viewers per game as well. USA Network, ION, and Prime Video were around the 500k mark for the average broadcast.
In the least surprising news possible, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever were key drivers for fans in the first half of the season. The top seven broadcasts so far all involved the Fever, with the July 12 game against the Las Vegas Aces on NBC leading the way with 2.6 million viewers. The top game not involving Clark and Indiana was a June 28 game between the Aces and Chicago Sky on CBS with 1.5 million tuning in.
These numbers are incredibly encouraging for the league and its new rights partners as WNBA fandom continues to grow. It will be even more encouraging if the focus can stay on Clark and the Indiana Fever’s performance on the floor, where they lead the Eastern Conference. A deep playoff run for the Fever could potentially see the league hit even greater heights.
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