After Sunday’s four-game slate, the WNBA will pause from August 31 through September 16 for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
Twelve WNBA stars, including Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson and Paige Bueckers, will represent the United States in Group D. The USA will face China on September 4, Italy on September 6 and Czechia on September 7.
When the WNBA season resumes, each team will have approximately three or four regular-season games remaining. Those games will primarily determine playoff seeding, as the eight postseason teams have already been confirmed: the Minnesota Lynx, Golden State Valkyries, Las Vegas Aces, Atlanta Dream, Indiana Fever, New York Liberty, Washington Mystics and Dallas Wings.
Caitlin Clark Drives Record WNBA Viewership
As the WNBA celebrates its 30th anniversary, the league is experiencing unprecedented media attention and television viewership. The surge has been driven largely by the cultural phenomenon surrounding Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.
The two most-watched games in WNBA history came during the league’s inaugural 1997 season. The opening matchup between the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks attracted more than 5 million viewers, while the Phoenix Mercury’s game against the Charlotte Sting drew 3.59 million viewers the following day.
The Fever’s recent showdown with the Chicago Sky now ranks third all time. NBC reported that 3.31 million viewers watched the game.
Including that matchup, three of the WNBA’s 10 most-watched broadcasts ever have taken place this season, and all three featured Clark and the Fever. Before the season began, Indiana also made league history by becoming the first team to have 100% of its games televised nationally.
The Fever also occupy the sixth and seventh spots among the WNBA’s most-watched regular-season broadcasts. Indiana’s matchup with the Aces attracted 2.64 million viewers, while its game against the Dream drew 2.60 million.
Fever’s Final Games Could Set More Ratings Records
After tonight’s game against the Connecticut Sun, who sit near the bottom of the league standings, the Fever will have four regular-season games remaining. The schedule concludes with a high-profile back-to-back series against the league-leading Minnesota Lynx.
With Clark and Indiana continuing to command a massive national audience, those late-season matchups could push the Fever even further up the WNBA’s all-time top-10 viewership list.
Source: www.marca.com
