ESPN has announced that its coverage of Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut in the Indiana Fever versus the Connecticut Sun season opener was the most-watched WNBA game on ESPN platforms ever, including both regular season or playoff games.
The game scored 2.1 million viewers across ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+, surpassing the Phoenix Mercury at Connecticut Sun game in May 22, 2004.
The game peaked at 2.3 million viewers in the 7:45 p.m. to 7:59 p.m. window.
The second game of the night featuring the Phoenix Mercury at Las Vegas Aces averaged 464,000 viewers, up 5% year-over-year. The two games averaged 1.28 million viewers, up 192% versus last year’s regular season average on ESPN platforms.
WNBA Countdown presented by Google pre-game show leading into Indiana at Connecticut averaged 680,000 viewers across ESPN2, ESPN+, and Disney+, up 126% versus last year’s average across ABC and ESPN.
In addition WNBA content across ESPN.com and the ESPN App delivered an increase of 409% in terms of unique visitors year-over-year. Total engagements for WNBA content across ESPN social accounts is also up 125%, year-over-year.
