WNBA National Viewership Up Despite Clark's Injury Absences

4 days ago

The WNBA's national viewership remains strong in year two of the Caitlin Clark era, even with Clark missing extended time because of injuries and her Indiana Fever hovering around .500.
Entering the All-Star break, the WNBA says viewership for its national TV partners—Ion, ESPN/ABC and CBS—is up 23% versus the same timeframe last year.
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Clark-mania remains a significant driver of TV interest, yet the Fever have still commanded some of the season's biggest audiences in games she missed. The sophomore guard has sat out 10 of Indiana's first 23 games, as well as the team's Commissioner's Cup final win on July 1. (The Commissioner's Cup final game does not count in the WNBA's official records or regular season standings.)
The greatest gains belong to Ion, which touts a 12% increase in viewership. The Scripps-owned network has averaged 595,000 viewers compared to 529,000 a year ago before the break.
Indiana's July 11 win over the Atlanta Dream pulled in 1.48 million viewers, the best tally so far on Ion this season. According to the network, viewership of the Fever's 99-85 win peaked at the 9:15 p.m. ET quarter-hour at 1.8 million viewers. It was the first time Clark appeared on the network this season, as she had missed the Fever's June 28 victory against the Dallas Wings that was watched by 1.14 million people. (The June 28 tilt would have been the first meeting between Clark and former UConn star Paige Bueckers, the last two No. 1 overall draft picks.)
In June, the WNBA renewed its media rights deal with Ion, which was originally set to expire after this season. Financial details of the extension were not disclosed but prior media reports said that Ion has been paying the league $13 million per season in the initial three-year agreement.
ESPN and ABC are also carrying momentum from 2024, as WNBA games are up 10% on the Disney-owned networks compared to the same time last season. The 13 WNBA games are averaging 1.3 million viewers. Last year, the two networks had 20 games, including 13 Fever games, before the Olympic break. (This year, ESPN and ABC have shown just five Fever games so far.)
Unsurprisingly, the most-watched game on the ABC slate—and for any media partner so far—was between the Fever and Chicago Sky in their season opener on May 17; 2.7 million viewers tuned in as Indiana trounced Chicago 93-58. Outside of last year's All-Star Game, the Fever-Sky game had the best viewership of any WNBA contest since 2000.
Because Clark missed the chance to face Bueckers in the first Fever/Wings game of this season, ABC benefitted from the teams' second meeting. Clark vs. Bueckers, or rather Fever vs. Wings, delivered 2.1 million viewers for ABC, peaking at 2.5 million. It was the fourth-most watched WNBA game in ABC history, dating back to 2003 and totaling 120 regular season and playoff games.
CBS, the W's third media partner, has gotten a 6% bump through the league's first half. The broadcast network has only aired six games, but it has averaged 1.3 million viewers per game versus 1.23 million in 2024.
CBS' most-watched game thus far was on May 24 when 2.22 million people watched the Fever come up short of a comeback against the defending champion New York Liberty. The end of the contest brought the first major Clark-related controversy of the season when New York's Natasha Cloud prevented her from getting a shot off in the game's final seconds. Whether it was a no-call or great defense, the ending sparked yet another debate among fans about how Clark is being treated by her peers in the league.
Over the entire 2024 season, the league amassed 22 regular season games with more than 1 million viewers—and Clark and the Fever appeared in 21 of those contests. When scheduling the 2025 season, the league spread the bounty among all its media partners, including Prime Video and NBA TV, by putting 41 of Indiana's 44 games shown on national television.
Just seven WNBA games have crossed the 1 million threshold so far this season, with five involving the Fever. The two non-Fever games were the Liberty's season opening win over the Las Vegas Aces on May 17, where 1.3 million watched the team raise its first championship banner; and Chicago's upset win over Minnesota on July 12 as 1.04 million saw the battle between Angel Reese and Napheesa Collier.
However, even in games Clark has missed, the league has shown some resilience on TV this season. For example, CBS' June 7 telecast of the Fever against the Chicago Sky on June 7 pulled in 1.92 million viewers, making it the second-most watched game not involving Clark since 2001, only trailing Game 5 of last year's WNBA Finals. The game was already notable for being first WNBA game to ever air in primetime on broadcast TV—on a Saturday night, no less. CBS will get another Fever/Sky game in Saturday primetime on Aug. 9.
CBS' last three WNBA telecasts have flirted with 1 million viewers. The Tiffany network pulled in 939,000 viewers for Chicago vs. Connecticut on June 15 despite the game featuring teams with two of the worst records in the league. CBS then picked up 987,000 viewers apiece on July 6 (Seattle-New York) and July 12 (Golden State-Las Vegas).
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