It’s been widely established that Caitlin Clark is the WNBA’s biggest viewership draw. However, Clark has missed 13 of the Indiana Fever’s 26 games this year—many of which have been on national television.
That hasn’t stopped the league from continuing to see tremendous viewership growth across all of its networks.
The WNBA is averaging 794,000 viewers through 56 games this year across all national networks, according to Nielsen data, a source told Front Office Sports. That number is 21% higher than the league’s 2024 full-season viewership average.
The raw viewership number is being driven up by Fever games, which have drawn 1.26 million viewers through 19 games this year. However, that number is just 7% higher than the 32 Fever games that aired last year—likely due to the absence of Caitlin Clark in some high-profile contests.
Non-Fever games are drawing significantly fewer viewers, but there has been a drastic growth compared to the full 2024 season.
- Total WNBA games: 794,000 viewers, up 21%
- Fever games: 1.26 million viewers, up 7%
- Non-Fever games: 549,000 viewers, up 37%
The non-Fever calculation is based on 37 games this year versus 66 games for all of last season. It’s worth noting nearly every Fever game is a national broadcast, and they tend to land on the league’s biggest networks—CBS, ABC, and ESPN.
The trend mirrors the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game two weeks ago, which drew 2.19 million viewers—a 36% dip from last year, when Clark played, but also 52% more than any previous All-Star Game.
Up Across the Board
The WNBA is seeing viewership growth across all of its broadcast partners. ESPN, the league’s biggest partner, is up 3% year-over-year across all its networks—including ABC and ESPN2. This includes the most-watched game of the year so far: the season opener between the Fever and the Chicago Sky (2.7 million viewers).
CBS is averaging 1.3 million viewers through six games this year, up 5.5% compared to this point last year. The network has two games that have breached 1.9 million viewers, and both involved the Fever (one with Clark, one without).
While none of its other four games have breached a million viewers, they’ve averaged 906,000, which is 33% higher than the three non-Fever games CBS aired at this point last year. That number would also smash the 729,000 average viewers of the 2023 WNBA Finals.
Ion, which follows a different distribution model than other networks, is averaging nearly 600,000 viewers on its linear network—up 4% from year-to-date. That’s considering Clark appeared in four games on Ion at this point last year compared to one so far this season.
NBA TV has the lowest raw viewership average (339,000), but it’s experiencing the most growth. The network is up 58% compared to this point last year, when it averaged just 214,000 viewers for all WNBA games.
The WNBA will have a new partner next year as NBC Sports joins through the 11-year, $2.2 billion media-rights deal it signed in conjunction with the NBA. ESPN will stay on as a partner.
Amazon has been airing WNBA games for several years, though its streaming numbers are unclear. Scripps Sports, the parent company of Ion, signed a multiyear deal with the league last month.
