The opening weekend of the 2025 WNBA regular-season on ESPN platforms registered strong viewership, highlighted by a marquee matchup between Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. The game, which was broadcast on ABC, averaged 2.7 million viewers on Saturday afternoon, representing a 115% year-over-year rise from last season’s regular-season average for ABC games. This is also believed to be the most-watched WNBA regular-season game in 25 years, according to a report by Richard Deitsch of The Athletic, dating back to when NBC aired WNBA contests.
The lead WNBA on ESPN broadcast team of Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe were on the call for the matchup that ended in a 35-point victory for the Fever over the Sky. The viewership also marks the continuation of considerable interest in the games featuring Reese and Clark, who both faced one another in the National Championship Game of the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament. The ABC broadcast of the Sky-Fever matchup is the most-watched regular-season tilt between the superstars since their debuts in the WNBA last season, the previous high of which occurred last June with 2.25 million viewers tuning in on CBS.
Clark and the Fever are slated to be broadcast on national television for 41 of the 44 regular-season games on their schedule. Ten of these games are going to air on properties owned by The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC), while ION will televise eight of the matchups. Prime Video, CBS/CBS Sports Network and NBA TV will also be presenting Fever games throughout the season as well. Prior to the regular season, TEGNA expanded its broadcast distribution of the Fever to 11 more markets in the midwest, providing 18 games for free over-the-air to 4.6 million households in the region.
The first half of the doubleheader on Saturday, which featured a rematch of the 2023 WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces, averaged 1.3 million viewers on ABC. Emanating live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and the Liberty raised their first championship banner in franchise history and proceeded to defeat the Aces by a final score of 92-78. These two games eclipsing an average of 1 million viewers continues momentum from last season when the league had 22 regular-season games achieve or surpass that benchmark.
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