2.3M Viewers for Jun 23 Fever at Sky (most in 23 yrs); 2.25M for Jun 16 Sky at Fever. 2.45M for WNBA Draft (most for a WNBA game or event in 24 yrs)

[HFan1981]

I

Still surprising that the WNBA Draft drew more viewers than any game the league has played in 23 years, that's kind of sad albeit not surprising coming so soon after the Final Four. Wonder if Sunday on ESPN will actually beat it since the game is a bit later in the afternoon than the previous 11 AM Sky-Fever games? Should beat the current ESPN record anyway. I wonder what the peak possible audience would even be. Is 3 million the absolute most they could ever hope for? 5 million under the most perfect of circumstances?

The way these numbers are going and all the storylines, I think over 3 million today. Hopefully Fever get the win and Caitlin has a big game.

 

[Franisdaman]

I

The way these numbers are going and all the storylines, I think over 3 million today. Hopefully Fever get the win and Caitlin has a big game.

the peak has to be a big number, too

 

[Franisdaman]

Still surprising that the WNBA Draft drew more viewers than any game the league has played in 23 years, that's kind of sad albeit not surprising coming so soon after the Final Four. Wonder if Sunday on ESPN will actually beat it since the game is a bit later in the afternoon than the previous 11 AM Sky-Fever games? Should beat the current ESPN record anyway. I wonder what the peak possible audience would even be. Is 3 million the absolute most they could ever hope for? 5 million under the most perfect of circumstances?

What sucks is whenever Angel is involved (the draft or a game), because she takes partial credit for the numbers when she knows damn well that it is Caitlin who is driving viewership.

 

[Franisdaman]

Magic is giving too much credit to Angel, imo. Angel is not selling out arenas when Caitlin/the Fever is not the opponent.

The full text of Magic's tweet:

Larry and I heightened the NBA’s overall popularity. The Lakers and Celtics sold out arenas throughout the league and increased television viewership exponentially. The higher viewership numbers led to the NBA signing significantly larger TV contracts which then led to higher salaries for the players.

Caitlin and Angel are now doing the same thing, selling out arenas and increasing the viewership. They have taken women’s basketball by storm and with expiring TV deals on the horizon, the WNBA is now in a position to negotiate higher TV contracts and increase salaries for all of the talented players.

 

[Franisdaman]

2.3M viewers

 

[AMAYS]

2.3M viewers

Thought the game might sniff 3 million, which would get to # 4 all time. 2.3 million is still outside the all-time WNBA top 10.

 

[Franisdaman]

Thought the game might sniff 3 million, which would get to # 4 all time. 2.3 million is still outside the all-time WNBA top 10.

Going back 16 years: no other WNBA telecast, including the playoffs and finals, had managed even one million viewers since 2008.


The numbers Cailin has been putting up since the April 15 WNBA Draft:


June 23, 2024 Indiana at Chicago Game (2.3M Viewers on ESPN):




June 16, 2024 Chicago at Indiana Game (2.252M Viewers on CBS):




2024 WNBA Draft (Mon, Apr 15, 2024 on ESPN):

No other WNBA telecast, including the playoffs and finals, had managed even one million viewers since 2008.

 

[Franisdaman]

Another Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese matchup sets another viewership high for WNBA​

by Jon Lewis
June 25, 2024


For the second-straight week, a nationally televised matchup of Caitlin Clark’s Fever and Angel Reese’s Sky delivered the top WNBA audience in 23 years.

Sunday June 23rd’s Fever-Sky WNBA regular season game, the third meeting of the season between Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago’s Angel Reese, averaged 2.30 million viewers on ESPN — surpassing the teams’ meeting on CBS the prior week (2.25M) as the most-watched WNBA game since Memorial Day 2001.

The three most-watched WNBA games since 2001 have come just in the first 6 weeks this season, two being matchups of Clark and Reese and the third being Clark’s debut against Connecticut on Opening Night.

Chicago’s win was also the most-watched WNBA telecast ever on ESPN.

After the WNBA went nearly 16 years without a single 7-figure audience, there have already been 9 games this season to surpass the MILLION viewer mark.

8 of the 9 have involved Clark and the Fever, including Friday June 21’s Fever-Dream game on ION — which averaged 1.18 million, the largest WNBA audience ever on the Scripps-owned “netlet” that began airing games last season. The previous high was 1.02 million for Fever-Mystics earlier this month, and the high before that was 742,000 for Fever-Sparks in May.

Indiana’s games against Atlanta and Chicago were their 11th and 12th this season to set a viewership record on their respective network. In total, 13 WNBA games this season have set a viewership record, with Liberty-Lynx in May setting a mark on CBS that was later broken by a Sky-Fever matchup.

WNBA games to set network viewership records this season​

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 23: Angel Reese #5 of the Chicago Sky and Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever look on during the second half against the Chicago Sky on June 23, 2024 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire)

 

[EagleHawk]

Another Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese matchup sets another viewership high for WNBA​

by Jon Lewis
June 25, 2024


For the second-straight week, a nationally televised matchup of Caitlin Clark’s Fever and Angel Reese’s Sky delivered the top WNBA audience in 23 years.

Sunday June 23rd’s Fever-Sky WNBA regular season game, the third meeting of the season between Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago’s Angel Reese, averaged 2.30 million viewers on ESPN — surpassing the teams’ meeting on CBS the prior week (2.25M) as the most-watched WNBA game since Memorial Day 2001.

The three most-watched WNBA games since 2001 have come just in the first 6 weeks this season, two being matchups of Clark and Reese and the third being Clark’s debut against Connecticut on Opening Night.

Chicago’s win was also the most-watched WNBA telecast ever on ESPN.

After the WNBA went nearly 16 years without a single 7-figure audience, there have already been 9 games this season to surpass the MILLION viewer mark.

8 of the 9 have involved Clark and the Fever, including Friday June 21’s Fever-Dream game on ION — which averaged 1.18 million, the largest WNBA audience ever on the Scripps-owned “netlet” that began airing games last season. The previous high was 1.02 million for Fever-Mystics earlier this month, and the high before that was 742,000 for Fever-Sparks in May.

Indiana’s games against Atlanta and Chicago were their 11th and 12th this season to set a viewership record on their respective network. In total, 13 WNBA games this season have set a viewership record, with Liberty-Lynx in May setting a mark on CBS that was later broken by a Sky-Fever matchup.

WNBA games to set network viewership records this season​

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 23: Angel Reese #5 of the Chicago Sky and Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever look on during the second half against the Chicago Sky on June 23, 2024 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire)

I see three players looking towards the ball(?) and one player looking at Clark. hmm.

 

[Tenacious E]

Another Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese matchup sets another viewership high for WNBA​

by Jon Lewis
June 25, 2024


For the second-straight week, a nationally televised matchup of Caitlin Clark’s Fever and Angel Reese’s Sky delivered the top WNBA audience in 23 years.

Sunday June 23rd’s Fever-Sky WNBA regular season game, the third meeting of the season between Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago’s Angel Reese, averaged 2.30 million viewers on ESPN — surpassing the teams’ meeting on CBS the prior week (2.25M) as the most-watched WNBA game since Memorial Day 2001.

The three most-watched WNBA games since 2001 have come just in the first 6 weeks this season, two being matchups of Clark and Reese and the third being Clark’s debut against Connecticut on Opening Night.

Chicago’s win was also the most-watched WNBA telecast ever on ESPN.

After the WNBA went nearly 16 years without a single 7-figure audience, there have already been 9 games this season to surpass the MILLION viewer mark.

8 of the 9 have involved Clark and the Fever, including Friday June 21’s Fever-Dream game on ION — which averaged 1.18 million, the largest WNBA audience ever on the Scripps-owned “netlet” that began airing games last season. The previous high was 1.02 million for Fever-Mystics earlier this month, and the high before that was 742,000 for Fever-Sparks in May.

Indiana’s games against Atlanta and Chicago were their 11th and 12th this season to set a viewership record on their respective network. In total, 13 WNBA games this season have set a viewership record, with Liberty-Lynx in May setting a mark on CBS that was later broken by a Sky-Fever matchup.

WNBA games to set network viewership records this season​

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 23: Angel Reese #5 of the Chicago Sky and Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever look on during the second half against the Chicago Sky on June 23, 2024 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire)

Caitlin is driving this, but it would be disingenuous to not acknowledge the bump in numbers for the Sky games, after the season settled in and numbers slumped. Then again, the "bad" numbers are when the game was only on the App. Looks like about 1M viewers for Ion games, and 2 to 2.5M for games on the networks or ESPN.

 

[Franisdaman]

Caitlin is driving this, but it would be disingenuous to not acknowledge the bump in numbers for the Sky games, after the season settled in and numbers slumped. Then again, the "bad" numbers are when the game was only on the App. Looks like about 1M viewers for Ion games, and 2 to 2.5M for games on the networks or ESPN.

 

[Franisdaman]

Caitlin/the Fever keep breaking records.

Here are the numbers for Friday June 21’s Fever-Atlanta Dream game on ION, where the announced attendance was 17,575:

 

[hahkize]

Another Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese matchup sets another viewership high for WNBA​

by Jon Lewis
June 25, 2024


For the second-straight week, a nationally televised matchup of Caitlin Clark’s Fever and Angel Reese’s Sky delivered the top WNBA audience in 23 years.

Sunday June 23rd’s Fever-Sky WNBA regular season game, the third meeting of the season between Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago’s Angel Reese, averaged 2.30 million viewers on ESPN — surpassing the teams’ meeting on CBS the prior week (2.25M) as the most-watched WNBA game since Memorial Day 2001.

The three most-watched WNBA games since 2001 have come just in the first 6 weeks this season, two being matchups of Clark and Reese and the third being Clark’s debut against Connecticut on Opening Night.

Chicago’s win was also the most-watched WNBA telecast ever on ESPN.

After the WNBA went nearly 16 years without a single 7-figure audience, there have already been 9 games this season to surpass the MILLION viewer mark.

8 of the 9 have involved Clark and the Fever, including Friday June 21’s Fever-Dream game on ION — which averaged 1.18 million, the largest WNBA audience ever on the Scripps-owned “netlet” that began airing games last season. The previous high was 1.02 million for Fever-Mystics earlier this month, and the high before that was 742,000 for Fever-Sparks in May.

Indiana’s games against Atlanta and Chicago were their 11th and 12th this season to set a viewership record on their respective network. In total, 13 WNBA games this season have set a viewership record, with Liberty-Lynx in May setting a mark on CBS that was later broken by a Sky-Fever matchup.

WNBA games to set network viewership records this season​

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 23: Angel Reese #5 of the Chicago Sky and Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever look on during the second half against the Chicago Sky on June 23, 2024 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire)

And the later Wednesday night game, Storm-Aces, averaged 179,000 viewers. 😃

 

[Franisdaman]

2.3M viewers seems good but compare that to Iowa's 6 game 2024 NCAA Tournament run:

3.23M viewers vs Holy Cross
4.9M vs W Virginia
6.87M vs Colorado
12.3M vs LSU
14.4M vs UConn
18.9M vs South Carolina (All-Time College WBB Record)

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]