Sunday’s NBC Sports presentation of the Indiana Fever taking on the Chicago Sky game drew a massive audience. NBC Sports just posted its second-best WNBA number ever since 1997.
What We Know: The August 23 Fever-Sky game averaged 3.31 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, per Nielsen and Adobe Analytics data. That’s the most-watched WNBA regular-season game since the league’s 1997 debut weekend. It ranks third all-time, trailing only two 1997 broadcasts. Additionally, 6,440 WNBA games have been played since the last time a broadcast topped this one.
What The Data Shows: Viewership peaked at 3.82 million during the broadcast. Caitlin Clark scored 37 points, and Kelsey Mitchell added 30, in Indiana’s 113-90 win. This marked only the second WNBA Sunday primetime broadcast ever. The first, on July 12 against Las Vegas, drew 2.64 million viewers.
What Remains Unclear: Viewership breakdowns on network versus Peacock streaming were not made available.
What It Means: The WNBA is a hot ticket for sports this summer. It should be no surprise that the league continues to cash in on viewership with Caitlin Clark on the court. Clark and Mitchell’s backcourt punch clearly translates to eyeballs. NBC Sports has averaged 1.75 million viewers across seven games this season, up 35% year-over-year. Consequently, the network’s WNBA return — its first since 2002 — looks like a clear ratings win. Meanwhile, the league’s growth story builds toward the Sept. 21 finale.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.