WNBA scores top non-Clark playoff audience in 20 years

If there was any question whether the WNBA can maintain its momentum sans- Caitlin Clark , Tuesday’s playoff viewership may provide an answer.

Tuesday’s Storm-Aces first round WNBA playoff Game 2 averaged a 0.59 rating and 988,000 viewers on ESPN , trailing only Sunday’s Fever-Sun Game 1 on ABC (1.84M) as the most-watched WNBA playoff game since 2003. Las Vegas’ series-clinching win delivered the largest playoff audience on cable since the deciding Game 3 of the 1999 Sparks-Comets Western Conference Finals (1.05M).

Last year’s most-watched playoff game, the clinching Game 4 of the Aces-Liberty WNBA Finals, averaged 889,000 viewers. Last year’s most-watched opening round game, Mystics-Liberty Game 2, averaged 501,000. Compared to the same Tuesday night window in last year’s first round — Dream-Wings Game 2 — ratings rose 113% and viewership 117% from a 0.28 and 456,000.

Over 15 seasons from 2009-23, the largest WNBA audience was 913,000 viewers for the deciding Sparks-Lynx Game 5 in the 2017 WNBA Finals. Aces-Storm was the 26th game this season to surpass that mark (and 27th telecast including the WNBA Draft), and the fifth to do so without featuring or following Caitlin Clark . (Keep in mind the standard caveat re: out-of-home viewing, which was not included in Nielsen estimates until 2020.)

Earlier in the night, Dream-Liberty Game 2 averaged a 0.52 and 863,000 — up 75% and 72% respectively from last year’s aforementioned Mystics-Liberty game (0.30, 501K).

With Clark and her Indiana Fever facing elimination Wednesday night, the Tuesday performance is a strong indication that the WNBA will continue to draw outsized numbers in her absence. The next round will feature a WNBA Finals rematch between the Aces and Liberty that may well outdraw their championship series a year ago (though with one game set for ESPNU that is far from a guarantee).

(Nielsen estimates via Programming Insider 9.25 )

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