The WNBAs season-long surge in popularity shows no sign of abating, as the 2024 All-Star Game left the previous ratings record in the dust.
According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, Sunday nights exhibition, which pitted rookie stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese against the U.S. womens national team, averaged 3.44 million viewers on ABC, up 139% versus the previous high-water mark set in 2003 (1.44 million).
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Team WNBAs 117-109 win now stands as the third most-watched outing in the leagues history, trailing only NBCs opening-weekend salvo in June 1997, when the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks squared off in front of 5.04 million viewers on a Saturday afternoon, and the following days Charlotte Sting-Phoenix Mercury clash (3.59 million).
Sunday nights All-Star effort marks the 17th time this season that an WNBA broadcast has delivered north of 1 million viewers, which is of particular interest given how out-of-reach the seven-figure tally had been before Clark arrived on the scene. Prior to this season, a WNBA game hadnt served up 1 million viewers since 2008.
The former Iowa standout has been instrumental in supersizing the leagues TV deliveries; since Clark first suited up for the Indiana Fever back in May, the guard has appeared in 15 of the leagues highest-rated 17 telecasts, including each of the top 10.
The revenge theme proved to be a novel twist on the standard All-Star formatClark and game MVP Arike Ogunbowale visibly reveled in their opportunity to sock it to the squad of Paris-bound veteransbut viewers were also treated to an actual competition. While their NBA counterparts in February put in the usual show of look-Ma-no-effort during their own All-Star scrimmage, Sundays game at times almost gave off a playoff vibe. Case in point: Clark was consistently double-teamed by her Olympian counterparts.
Ogunbowale put up a record high 34 points, edging Team USAs Breanna Stewart (31) for top honors, while Clarks 10 assists nearly matched Sue Birds 2017 ASG record (11). Among the more established Paris-bound bunch, Aja Wilson scored 22 points, Diana Taurasi notched 14 and Brittney Griner added 10 from the bench.
In keeping with Disneys efforts to grow the WNBA audience, this years game was the second straight to air in ABC prime. Last years broadcast averaged 850,000 viewers; at the time, it earned bragging rights as the leagues most-watched All-Star Game in 16 years.
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