Caitlin Clark’s Debut Drew Largest TV Audience for WNBA Game in 23 Years

 

May 14, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) returns the ball during a game. May 14, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) returns the ball during a game. / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

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Indiana Fever
Connecticut Sun

Caitlin Clark once again helped make television ratings history Tuesday night during her WNBA debut for the Indiana Fever.

The Fever lost 92–71 to the Connecticut Sun in front of a sellout crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena. Even though it wasn’t broadcast on ESPN’s main channel—it was aired on ESPN2—the Fever-Sun clash brought in 2.13 million television viewers.

That is the WNBA’s highest single-game ratings since the Los Angeles Sparks and Houston Comets matched up on NBC in 2001. That game brought in 2.44 million viewers. This means, though, that the Fever–Sun game brought in the biggest audience for a WNBA cable game in history.

Clark’s teams have been breaking ratings numbers for months now. Iowa’s Final Four game vs. UConn in April was the most-watched NCAA women’s basketball game ever with 14.2 million viewers. That matchup beat out the Hawkeyes’ Elite Eight game vs. LSU, which had just reset the record with 12.3 million viewers the week prior.

The 2024 WNBA draft also saw a 307% increase in viewership as Clark was selected No. 1 by the Fever in April. A record 2.45 million viewers watched Clark and other NCAA stars be drafted on ESPN.

Clark and the Fever might continue to break viewership records as 36 of the team’s 40 regular season games this season will be broadcast on national television.