Indiana Fever-Dallas Wings Averaged 2.5 Million Viewers—2nd Most-Watched WNBA Game
Yes, the numbers are still up there. Some critics wondered if the WNBA could maintain its growth and this season’s Opening Weekend matchups helped prove that the league is still very popular and in great shape. ESPN announced that Indiana Fever versus Dallas Wings averaged 2.5 million viewers making it the second most-watched WNBA regular-season game across ESPN networks ever, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel.
Therefore, Caitlin Clark remains a huge draw for basketball audiences. If you recall, the most watched regular season WNBA game also belongs to CC and the Indiana Fever. Just one season ago, Sky-Fever on Opening Weekend drew a sizable audience in 2025 on ABC (2.7 million viewers).
And if you want to include the postseason as well, this year’s highly anticipated Fever and Wings game now ranks as the third most-watched game in WNBA history. Behind the Sky-Fever 2.7 million extravaganza featuring Clark and Reese; as well as Fever-Sun Round 1 Game 2 on ESPN on Sept. 25, 2024 (2.54 million viewers).
Millions of fans tuning in is great for the league and great for women’s sports. And shows that interest is not waning. No wonder the league was able to easily secure a new multi-billion dollar media deal. Which brings in hundreds of millions of revenue for the WNBA annually.
Nevertheless, fans aren’t just tuning in to the games themselves. They are also watching pre-shows, halftimes and post-game wrap-ups. According to ESPN,
“WNBA Countdown at 12:30 p.m. ET averaged 956,000 viewers, up 19% versus last year’s season debut episode and up 40% versus last season’s regular-season average on ABC. Additionally, the WNBA Countdown telecast between games averaged 1.5 million viewers from 3:23-3:48 p.m. ET.”
Indiana Fever-Dallas Wings Averaged 2.5 Million Viewers—2nd Most-Watched WNBA Game
Fantastic. Saturday’s WNBA Opening Weekend doubleheader on ABC altogether averaged 1.9 million viewers. Thus, making it the second most-watched WNBA Opening Weekend across ESPN networks ever.
While the second game’s viewership was a bit lower than the one headlined by Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark; numbers still remained well over a million. 1.9 million viewers for sports coverage is very successful. For instance, if you compare the WNBA to the NHL, the NHL averaged 450K-710K (from TNT to ESPN) viewers during the regular season. With the most watched game garnering 2.07 million viewers. Which were all increases for the NHL. So then, the WNBA is looking very healthy in terms of viewership and is off to another successful start.
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