WNBA Viewership: The Next Wave of Women’s Basketball

We have all been there where we just put on a random game for background noise, just so we have something to put on. This was not the case with the WNBA this season, and their viewership counts continued to rise with each passing game of the season, which seemed to prove that. 

Viewership for the WNBA has slowly been on the rise for the past couple years, but women’s basketball seemed to hit its stride this past season with viewership being up almost 50% in the regular season. The league is currently on their 25th season, and has started to see the effects of people getting more involved in the sport, along with players continuously promoting it through their own social platforms. Averaging 755,000 viewers for one of the most watched regular season games since 2012, the WNBA reported to fans. TikTok, the social media platform known for creating larger fan bases, has been a huge help to the organization with over 18.4 million likes and 859.7k followers. 

The league seemed to hit its peak of the season with the Finals being played. ESPN reported on Twitter how the final matchup between the Chicago Sky and the Phoenix Mercury averaged 548,000 viewers per game, and that it was the most watched Finals since 2017. Game Two of the Finals, however, averaged the height of the series with 789,000 average viewers for the game, reaching a peak point of a million viewers. This was the most watched Game Two since the 2003 Finals. The last two games hosted in Chicago were both sellouts. The WNBA did face some competition though during the Finals, with the NFL starting their regular season. It still seemed like fans were not deterred from watching a champion get crowned.

The simple answer to how the growth of women's basketball increased so much in one year, is that they gave them a chance. With over 100 regular season games being aired on major networks like ABC, NBC, CBS Sports Network, and ESPN+, the WNBA was simply more accessible to fans. The last time this many regular season games were aired on major programs and networks, was in 2008 with 81 games. There is still a ton of unlocked potential with the WNBA and their viewership. If we continue to push for the economic growth of these organizations and back them with the actual proof people will support, if given the easy accessibility too, the league as a whole will continue to flourish.