WNBA Delivers Record Viewing for ESPN

Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty shoots a free throw against the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals. (Image credit: Elsa/Getty Images)

Rapidly growing viewer interest in women’s basketball helped ESPN rack up record audiences for its 2024 WNBA coverage, with regular-season viewing up 170% from last season and postseason games generating their largest audiences in 25 years.

As the exclusive home of the WNBA playoffs, ESPN platforms televised 22 postseason games. The New York Liberty secured its first title, defeating the Minnesota Lynx in overtime Oct. 20 in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.

The 2024 playoffs and finals averaged 1.1 million viewers—up 139% from 2023—making it the most-viewed WNBA postseason in 25 years.

Other key viewing highlights include:

WNBA viewing data on ESPN — (Image credit: ESPN)

This year’s WNBA Finals was the most-watched series in 25 years averaging 1.6 million viewers, up 115% from 2023.
This year’s finals was the eighth WNBA championship series to reach a deciding Game 5 and the first to average at least 1 million viewers for all games. None of the 35 games in the seven previous finals reached the 1 million average viewer benchmark.
Games 3, 4, and 5 each became the most-viewed WNBA Finals games ever on cable.
The WNBA regular season, playoffs and finals averaged a cumulative 1.2 million viewers, the most-watched full season on ESPN platforms ever and up 155% from 2023. Year-over-year, viewing among persons 18-34 was up 164%, and viewing by women was up 165%.
Thirty-two WNBA telecasts across all networks (including the 2024 WNBA Draft and the All-Star Game) averaged more than 1 million viewers each—22 of those were on ESPN platforms.
The 24 regular-season games airing across ESPN platforms averaged 1.2 million viewers, up 170% vs. 2023.
ESPN was home to the most-watched game of the regular season—Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky on June 23—averaging 2.3 million viewers.
The 2024 season featured the 11 most-watched WNBA games ever on ESPN; the three most-watched WNBA games ever on ABC (2.2 million, Seattle Storm at Indiana Fever on Aug. 18; 1.8 million, Indiana at Connecticut First Round Game 1 on Sept. 22; 1.7 million, Indiana at New York Liberty on May 18); and the four most-watched WNBA games ever on ESPN2 (2.1 million, Indiana at Connecticut Sun on May 14; 994,000, New York at Las Vegas Semifinals Game 3 on Oct. 4; 984,000, Connecticut at Minnesota Semifinals Game 5 on Oct. 8; 969,000, Las Vegas at New York Semifinals Game 2 on Oct. 1).
Viewers watched an average of 73 minutes of the 2024 WNBA Finals, the highest time spent viewing ever.
The 2024 WNBA All-Star Game on ABC was watched by the event’s largest audience ever, averaging 3.4 million viewers.
The 2024 WNBA draft on ESPN was the most-viewed draft ever, averaging 2.4 million viewers, up 328% from 2023.
Pregame show “WNBA Countdown” (regular season, playoffs and finals) averaged 429,000 viewers, up 80% vs. 2023.
Engagement with WNBA-focused posts across ESPN’s social media accounts for the entire season was up 413% from 2023, with video views increasing by 642% year-over-year.
WNBA-related content on ESPN.com and the ESPN App saw an increase in total unique visitors of 157% from 2023.

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.