The 2026 WNBA draft averaged 1.5 million viewers on ESPN Monday night, making it the second-most watched edition of the event. Around 250,000 more people watched the event compared to the 2025 draft, which averaged 1.25 million viewers, according to ESPN.
Ratings for this year’s draft trailed the 2024 event, which averaged 2.45 million and was headlined by No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and others.
The 2026 uptick in ratings came despite the lack of a clear top superstar prospect heading into the draft, compared to Paige Bueckers in 2025 and Clark in 2024. The Dallas Wings selected Azzi Fudd as the top pick in 2026, but in a pre-draft press conference, women’s basketball play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco said there were “cases to be made” for the Wings to pick players like Awa Fam, Olivia Miles, or Lauren Betts.
With the draft following the ratification of the league’s CBA, the 2026 draftees are the richest group of WNBA rookies ever. Fudd’s rookie-salary will be $500,000, compared to the $78,831 Bueckers made last season.
Viewership for the draft peaked at 1.79 million viewers between 7:45 to 7:59 p.m. ET, around the time the sixth through eighth overall picks were selected (Kiki Rice, Iyana Martín, and Flau’jae Johnson). The 2025 draft peaked at 1.46 million, while the 2024 draft peaked at 3.05 million.
Prior to 2024, no WNBA draft broadcast broke one million viewers. The previous record was set at 601,000 in 2004 when Diana Taurasi was picked No. 1.
WNBA Draft Average Viewership Through The Years:
- 2026: 1.5 million
- 2025: 1.25 million
- 2024: 2.45 million
- 2023: 572,000
- 2022: 403,000
- 2021: 331,000
- 2020: 387,000
The WNBA draft viewership trend mirrors that of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, which ended a week prior and included several draft prospects. The NCAA title game between UCLA and South Carolina averaged 9.9 million viewers, slightly up from 2025 (8.6 million), but down from 2024 (18.9 million) and 2023 (9.9 million). The title games in 2024 and 2023 featured Clark.
While the “Caitlin Clark effect” and Clark’s draft class have yet to be matched in magnitude, the momentum for women’s basketball is still strong, and better than it was before the Clark-led explosion.
The 2026 WNBA season tips off May 8.
