Six different networks have set records for most-watched WNBA games ever featuring Caitlin Clark

Six different networks have set records for their most-watched WNBA games ever. All of them have featured Caitlin Clark.

Caitlin Clark drew record ratings and brought in sellout crowds everywhere she went during her time with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The hope was that the fan allure of Clark would continue on into her WNBA career. In anticipation of that possibility, networks lined up to make sure that Clark and the Indiana Fever were featured prominently throughout the WNBA season.

Prior to the start of the 2024 WNBA season, it was announced that the 36 of the Indiana Fever’s 40 regular season games would be national television games.

It’s safe to say that TV networks are getting what they hoped they were signing up for.

Front Office Sports reported recently that six different networks have set records for their most-watched WNBA games ever this season. All six of those contests featured Clark and the Fever.

Clark and the Fever’s recent matchup against the Chicago Sky and Angel Reese on CBS was the most-watched WNBA game in 23 years. That 91-83 Fever win over the Sky on June 16 pulled in an average of 2.25 million viewers and peaked with nearly three million viewers.

The Fever’s season-opening contest at the Connecticut Sun on ESPN2 on May 14 drew an average of 2.1 million viewers and peaked with 2.3 million viewers. Then, on May 18, Clark and the Fever’s game at the New York Liberty was ABC’s most-watched WNBA game with 1.71 million viewers and a peak of 1.96 million viewers.

The Fever’s home contest against the Sun on ESPN pulled in a record 1.56 million viewers on May 20 and Indiana’s June 7 win over the Washington Mystics on ION averaged 1.02 million viewers. It was ION’s first-ever WNBA broadcast that topped one million viewers.

The Fever’s June 2 contest at the New York Liberty averaged 430,000 viewers on NBA TV. That figure has since been surpassed with 460,000 viewers from the Fever’s 88-81 Wednesday night win over the Mystics on NBA TV.

Clark and the Fever could be headed for another viewership record on Sunday as they square off against Reese and the Chicago Sky once more in a game that will air on ESPN beginning at 3 p.m. CT.

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