The Indiana Fever were swept 2-0 by the Connecticut Sun in the first round of the playoffs. Fans wanted their historic season to continue, and the organization desperately wanted a home game in the series, but it never happened. Caitlin Clark got valuable postseason experience, despite not making a deep playoff run.
Clark’s elite talent on the floor was matched by her popularity away from it. The 22-year-old brought thousands of new fans to the WNBA, and she is the leader of the next wave. It works because Clark has legendary on-court skills and was a proven winner in college. The best is still yet to come and her popularity will continue to grow.
Clark plans to take some time off, but her final game drew massive ratings and proves women’s basketball is just getting started.
Caitlin Clark makes Game 2 vs. Sun was the tenth-most watched game in WNBA history
The contest drew a massive 2.5 million views for a Wednesday evening game on ESPN and peaked at 3.4 million. Those are gigantic numbers. The audience was the tenth-largest in WNBA history and by far the biggest on ESPN. The other top games came on NBC and ABC, which significantly more people have access to.
It was another massive viewership for Clark, but the Fever have been doing that all season. They sell out arenas across the country and are consistently the most-watched team. It was something else that happened on Wednesday night that proves the W is just getting started.
The Fever’s loss to the Sun was followed on the same channel by the Lynx facing the Mercury. The second game with a 9:30 p.m. ET tipoff had 1.2 million views and peaked at 2.1 million per Neilsen. Those are massive numbers and proves those are not just Clark fans. She is bringing people to the league, who are consuming other content.
The late tipoff may have been Diana Taurasi’s final game, which certainly put more eyeballs on the event. Still, the massive audience proves this is just the beginning for the WNBA.
Angel Reese’s popularity is growing. Projected number one overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft Paige Bueckers has a massive following, and it will continue building from there. JuJu Watkins and others will help keep the momentum going. The W is introducing three new teams over the next two years, and the Golden State Valkyries have already sold thousands of season tickets. Things are just getting started, and the league is finally getting the popularity it has always deserved.
Caitlin Clark will be significantly better in year two and everyone will be tuning in to find out. Get on board now because the train is only picking up steam from here.