Fever regular-season ratings outdrew WNBA semifinal openers

The Indiana Fever's regular-season television audience averaged more than double that of the WNBA semifinal openers, a disparity that highlights the star power of Caitlin Clark. An OutKick review of ten Fever games broadcast on ABC, CBS, and NBC found an average audience of approximately 2.32 million viewers. In contrast, the two semifinal openers played on Oct. 4 averaged about 1.16 million viewers. This difference means the Fever drew roughly 100% more viewers per game than the playoff matchups, a gap of nearly 1.16 million people.

The specific figures underscore the scale of the difference. New York's Game 1 against Atlanta averaged 1.2 million viewers on ABC, according to ESPN figures provided to OutKick. Las Vegas' opener against Golden State averaged 1.12 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, based on data supplied by NBC to OutKick. Just one week prior, the Fever's first-round opener against Las Vegas drew 2.11 million viewers on ABC on Sept. 27. That regular-season game aired against an NFL broadcast yet still attracted approximately 76% more viewers than the Liberty-Dream semifinal opener a week later.

The data covers four Fever games on ABC, four on CBS, and two on NBC, with NBC figures including Peacock viewers just as the Aces-Valkyries playoff number does. Seven of the ten Fever games surpassed two million viewers, and every single one outdrew both semifinal openers. The lowest-rated Fever game in this set was the May 30 matchup at Portland on CBS, which Sports Media Watch reported at nearly 1.3 million viewers. In that game, Clark scored only six points on 1-for-7 shooting and played just 22 minutes in a blowout loss where the Fever trailed by as many as 26 points.

At the high end, the Fever's Aug. 23 game against Chicago averaged 3.31 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, while a July 12 game against Las Vegas drew 2.64 million on the same platforms. A comparison involving New York further illustrates the trend: the Liberty's two regular-season meetings with Indiana on CBS each exceeded 2.5 million viewers. Sunday's semifinal opener between the Liberty and Atlanta drew only 1.2 million viewers on ABC.

These numbers suggest that Angel Reese, who now plays for Atlanta, does not generate the same television draw as Clark. Dream playoff games have tracked closely with other non-Clark games and, in some instances, performed worse. Atlanta's first-round clincher averaged 1.2 million viewers on ESPN, which was below the 1.4 million viewers for the Dallas-Golden State game aired on the same network that night.

Despite this gap, the overall trend for the WNBA remains positive. Before Clark joined the league in 2024, no WNBA game had averaged one million viewers since 2008. Consistently clearing that threshold marks significant progress for the league. The two semifinal openers this year also saw audiences rise by roughly 10% compared to last year's pair. According to Sports Media Watch, these games ranked second and third in semifinal Game 1 audiences since the league adopted its current format in 2016.

The only opener ahead of them was last year's Fever-Aces game, which drew 1.4 million viewers on ABC even with Clark sidelined by injury. The Fever have also shown they can attract large audiences without their star player; a June 27 regular-season game against Los Angeles on CBS drew 1.57 million viewers with Clark not playing. Even Indiana's least-watched first-round game, a streaming-exclusive appearance on Prime Video with 1.42 million viewers, outdrew every non-Fever first-round game and both broadcast semifinal openers.