WNBA Playoffs Draw Record Viewership Following Strong Regular Season

The first round playoff Game 1 between the Fever and Aces averaged a 1.2 rating and attracted 2.11 million viewers on ABC, marking the largest audience for a WNBA playoff game on that network, and the third-largest overall since 2000. The Aces' decisive victory is notable in the context of previous playoff matchups, including the 2024 finals’ Game 5 between the Lynx and Liberty, which drew 2.15 million viewers, and the Fever-Sun Game 2 that had 2.54 million.

This game marked Clark’s first playoff appearance since the 2024 series against the Sun. Viewership for this year’s Game 1 increased by 15% compared to the previous season's matchup, which aired on an NFL Sunday and attracted 1.84 million viewers. Nielsen's adjustments to its out-of-home viewing sample and the integration of “Big Data” have influenced these figures.

Earlier on the same day, the Liberty-Lynx Game 1 averaged a 0.7 rating with 1.20 million viewers. Both games saw increases compared to the previous year’s Game 1, where the Fever played the Dream without Clark, drawing only 951,000 viewers. Data for the other series openers on Prime Video and USA Network is not yet available.

During the regular season, WNBA games averaged 731,000 viewers across all platforms, an 11% increase from last year’s 660,000 and the highest average since 2000. Excluding Peacock-exclusive games, the average rises to 771,000, a 17% increase. The WNBA's average viewership surpasses that of the NHL’s recent regular season, which saw 545,000 viewers on average, though it is acknowledged that the NHL has significantly fewer games on broadcast TV.

The regular season featured 51 broadcasts with more than one million viewers, a significant increase of 32 from the previous season. One of these notable games was the Fever-Lynx match that aired last Thursday on USA Network, which drew a 0.6 rating and 1.05 million viewers.

USA Network concluded the season with an average of 525,000 viewers, accounting for one-fifth of total WNBA viewership. NBC remained the most-watched WNBA broadcaster for the season, averaging 1.75 million viewers across its seven-game schedule. ESPN/ABC followed, averaging 1.37 million, with ABC alone averaging 1.56 million. Notably, the ESPN-only average surpassed viewership for men’s college basketball and Major League Baseball, despite being over fewer games. CBS averaged 1.275 million for its games, while Scripps-owned ION averaged 617,000, and Prime Video averaged 437,000.