Caitlin Clark has been one of the biggest names that the WNBA has ever come across. Since her induction to the game last year, the viewership has been skyrocketing for the league. Not only that, but the revenues and investments have also doubled since 2024. Thus, it was believed that Clark was one of the biggest factors for pulling in the WNBA crowd. Unfortunately, this season was not at all how the Indiana Fever star would have wanted it to be.
As she sat out of the season, the ratings were expected to drop drastically. Surprisingly, several games made records this year. For instance, the Aces vs. Mercury WNBA Finals Game 1 set a 28-year-old viewership record. Thus, it might be time to say that the WNBA does not need Clark anymore to gain viewership.
WNBA Viewership Numbers Show Promising Increase Despite Caitlin Clark’s Absence
Clark has sat out since July. And thus, the tensions around how the crowd reception would be were palpable. Thankfully, as the playoffs concluded, a surprising number emerged. It showed that the WNBA had just put up its most-watched postseason ever on ESPN! With the numbers coming in, the stark difference was even more visible.
According to Nielsen data, the finals were a massive hit. Here’s how all four games performed in terms of viewership.
- Game 1: 1.9M (highest since 1997)
- Game 2: 1.2M
- Game 3: 1.3M
- Game 4: 1.4M
History made! 🏀
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 16, 2025
The 2025 #WNBA season on ESPN networks was the most-watched EVER across the regular season & postseason 👏
Details: https://t.co/AO0qxKUUee pic.twitter.com/RBtp7028F4
Scroll to continue reading
Trending WNBA News
While this may surprise some, a closer look proves it was bound to happen. Now, it is true that Clark is still the heart of the league. But while the Fever star gave the WNBA the initial push, names like Paige Bueckers, A’ja Wilson, and more made sure that the quality of the game remained top-notch. Meanwhile, that was not all. ESPN recently announced a record 2025 WNBA viewership.
ESPN Drops Major Update For WNBA Viewership
The WNBA achieved a huge milestone this year. They managed to garner significant eyeballs to their games without the magnetic presence of Clark. According to a recent report from ESPN, the network recorded the biggest jump in viewership in recent years. A Nielsen Big Data+ survey revealed that regular-season games averaged 1.3 million viewers.
Now, that’s a good 6% higher than the year-over-year rate. In the postseason, fans also rewarded the league handsomely. The 24 postseason games garnered an average of 1.2 million viewers. The last time such hype occurred was in 1999, when average viewership hit an impressive 1.3 million. Surely, it is evident that the WNBA is getting a move on. Now, with Clark coming in, fans are eager to see if the numbers shoot up further in the future.