Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever defeated Sabrina Ionescu and the New York Liberty by a final score of 83-78 on Saturday, in a game broadcast by CBS Sports that averaged 1.87 million viewers. The game was televised on CBS and available to stream live on Paramount+ as part of a multi-year agreement with the WNBA announced last quarter. Viewership of the matchup peaked at 2.65 million viewers in the quarter-hour from 2:45 to 3 p.m. EST. The Fever were on CBS airwaves for the second and final time during the WNBA season following a game against the Chicago Sky in mid-June that averaged 2.25 million viewers and at the time was the most-watched WNBA game in 23 years.
The comparable game between the Phoenix Mercury and Washington Mystics last July averaged 592,000 viewers on the network, representing a 215% year-over-year increase. This is the 11th WNBA game to average at least 1 million viewers. The WNBA previously attained 12 games of more than 1 million viewers in 2002, the most occurrences the league reached this feat in a single season, according to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. Saturday’s game, Lewis added, attained the fifth-largest WNBA audience in the last 23 years. Entering the season, the WNBA had not attained an average audience of more than 1 million viewers in 16 years.
The WNBA is averaging 1.37 million viewers on CBS this season, which is up 132% over last year’s average of 592,000 viewers. CBS will broadcast a matchup between the Los Angeles Sparks and Dallas Wings on Saturday, July 13 at 3:30 p.m. The next day, CBS Sports Network will broadcast the game between the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics at 3 p.m. EST, the final CBS Sports broadcast before the All-Star and Olympic breaks. The network will resume its WNBA broadcasts on Saturday, Aug. 17 when the Minnesota Lynx take on the Washington Mystics at 3:30 p.m. EST.
As part of its existing media rights deal with the WNBA, CBS will present eight WNBA regular season games per year on its primary linear network. Furthermore, the sports division will broadcast an additional 12 games on the CBS Sports Network, adding to the scope of its coverage. CBS Sports has been broadcasting WNBA games over the last five years, first coming to terms on a media rights deal in 2019.
