The anticipated WNBA matchup between Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever and Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury lived up to the hype. The game resulted in an 88-82 Fever victory and the television audience came in as the fourth-largest WNBA viewership in over 20 years.
The game averaged more than 1.9 million viewers on ESPN, which also made it the second most-watched WNBA game ever on ESPN. The matchup between the Fever and the Chicago Sky on June 23 is the only game with a larger average audience on the network.
Sunday’s game was the first of three matchups between the two teams this season, with the next two happening on July 12 and August 16. This game peaked at 2.7 million viewers.
Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch reports the game was the most-watched WNBA game featuring Taurasi, which was previously her debut game in 2004. Lewis says the Fever-Mercury game was the 10th WNBA game this year to average at least one million viewers. Seven of those ten have averaged over 1.5 million viewers, all of which have featured Clark and the Fever.
