Those invested in the WNBA, from Hall of Fame players such as Sue Bird to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, have repeatedly echoed how important it is for the WNBA to develop rivalries — whether those rivalries are between franchises or individual players. Rivalries have always sold sports as a content play — and they often carry the viewership model when it comes to nationally televised games. Based on viewership, it seems the WNBA has found itself a hot one.
CBS’ telecast for the Fever’s 91-83 win over the Sky on Sunday averaged 2.25 million viewers, per the network, making it the most-watched WNBA game on any network in 23 years. The game peaked at close to 3 million viewers. Indianapolis was the top local market, followed by Memphis, Hartford, Columbus, Chicago and Las Vegas.
The game featured three of the top seven picks in April’s WNBA Draft — Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese. Clark and Reese, of course, have played in some of the most highly viewed women’s basketball games in history including Iowa’s win over LSU in this year’s Elite Eight game which averaged 12.3 million viewers on ESPN. One year earlier, LSU’s win over Iowa in the 2023 championship averaged a then-record 9.9 million viewers and peaked at 12.6 million viewers.
