In terms of headlines and bodies in seats, it's clear this week the WNBA is hotter than ever — and now that viewership numbers from last weekend's opening games are rolling in, the numbers are backing that up.
On Tuesday, May 20, The Athletic's Richard Deitsch reported that the Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky game on Saturday met or exceeded the record for the most-watched regular-season game. "The Fever-Sky game has set a record for most-watched regular season game ever on an ESPN network. Number should come in between 2.5 and 3 million viewers," he wrote in a post on BlueSky. In August 2024 the Indiana Fever-Connecticut Sun game peaked at 2.97 million viewers on ESPN.
(The Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky game from June 23, 2024, drew in 3.3 million viewers at its height.)
Deitsch added that the New York Liberty-Las Vegas Aces game on the same day pulled in 1.3 million viewers. That two games have already topped 1 million viewers so early in the season shows that fans are hungrier than ever to watch WNBA games, and the league needs to start paying attention.
More WNBA games will be broadcast nationally, but there's a catch
In March the WNBA unveiled this season's broadcast schedule, which included a pleasant surprise: more games will be broadcast nationally than ever before, with 13 games airing on ABC and 13 games on ESPN. Upping the number of games aired on these networks is a response to the increase in viewership last year, but it might not be enough for fans who are hungry for ALL WNBA teams, not just a few.
The 13 games that will be the most accessible are also banner events — for example, 10 Indiana Fever games will air on ESPN/ABC, which leaves only three matches featuring other teams (and one was the Liberty-Aces home opener in New York).
Other games will be broadcast on ION, a digital broadcast channel available on cable, satellite, and streaming services (for streamers, ION is available through The Roku Channel, Tubi, Pluto TV, and Frndly TV). Additional games are available on the WNBA APP and WNBA League Pass, the latter of which can be streamed on a computer or laptop. League Pass is $12.99 a month or $35 for the calendar year. League Pass is an excellent cost-effective option for fans, especially those who want to easily watch older games and highlights.
Having the ability to watch more games on easily accessible networks like ESPN and ABC is definitely a great thing — but if these numbers are showing anything, it's that fans still hunger for more.