WNBA viewership is up double digits so far this season. Caitlin Clark remains the biggest draw on the schedule.
What We Know: According to Sports Business Journal, league-wide viewership has risen 12% year over year, averaging 742,000 viewers per game across all partners. More than 73 million people have watched WNBA games this season, a record at the All-Star break. Fever games account for the seven most-watched broadcasts of the year. A July 12 Fever-Aces game on NBC drew 2.64 million viewers, the league’s third-best audience in 25 years.
What Remains Unclear: It’s unclear whether NBC and USA can sustain these numbers once Clark-driven matchups thin out later in the season. ION’s overall audience is down, even after front-loading its schedule with Fever games.
What It Means: The WNBA continues to become a bigger piece of the sports viewership puzzle. The new media-rights deals are paying off early, and Clark remains its engine. Networks are leaning hard on Fever games to anchor big audiences, including Finals coverage this fall. Still, the league’s challenge is proving growth extends beyond one team, player, or network. Sustained gains will depend on building interest across the full schedule, not just marquee matchups on all partners.
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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.