NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The matchup between Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Dallas’ Paige Bueckers on the WNBA’s opening weekend averaged 2.49 million viewers on ABC, making it the league’s second-most watched regular-season game on ABC or ESPN.
was also the 14th most-viewed sports event of the past week, according to numbers released Wednesday by Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel. The top 12 sports programs were NBA playoff games.
Saturday鈥檚 game featured the last four No. 1 picks in the WNBA draft: Aliyah Boston and Clark of the Fever, and Bueckers and Azzi Fudd of the Wings. It was Clark鈥檚 first regular-season game since last July.
It didn鈥檛 top the who watched the season opener last year between Clark鈥檚 Fever and Angel Reese鈥檚 Chicago Sky.
The top three most-viewed WNBA games on ESPN or ABC all featured Clark. A 2024 playoff game between the Fever and Connecticut Sun averaged 2.54 million.
The second game of the doubleheader 鈥� a rematch of last season鈥檚 final between Las Vegas and Phoenix 鈥� drew 1.15 million viewers. The doubleheader averaged 1.9 million, making it the second-most-watched opening weekend for ABC and ESPN.
ESPN has been broadcasting the league since it launched in 1997.
There will be a record 216 WNBA regular-season games and events available on broadcast platforms this season. The league will have games on ABC/ESPN, CBS, Amazon Prime Video, ION, NBC, USA Sports and NBA TV.
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