The WNBA is leaning heavily into the Caitlin Clark effect.
League announces 2024 WNBA TV and streaming schedule Wednesday will focus on the Indiana Fever. The Indiana Fever will likely take the star point guard from Iowa with the No. 1 pick in the draft after helping set records for attendance and TV ratings in the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
In Indiana, 36 of the 40 games will be featured by the WNBA’s national broadcast and streaming partners, with eight games on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, eight on ION and two on the CBS Television Network.
Additionally, the Fever will be featured 13 times on NBA TV, four times on Prime Video and once on CBS Sports Network.
This is a marked difference from last season, when the Fever, whose roster featured 2023 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston, broadcast one game on national television.
Some WNBA teams have increased ticket prices for games against Indiana. According to Front Office Sports.
One of those teams reportedly included the Mercury. We promoted the flyer on social media this week. On June 30th against the Fever, he wore a jersey with his college number, No. 22, in a silhouette similar to Clark’s.
The image features three-time Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi and Clark, the NCAA’s Division I all-time leading scorer, and is captioned, “The Goat vs. The Rook.”
The broadcast schedule was announced after data confirmed that the NCAA women’s national championship game drew more viewers in television ratings than the men’s.
The men’s game, which aired on TNT and TBS on Monday, drew an average of 14.8 million viewers as the university defeated Purdue for its second straight championship, according to The Athletic.
The women’s game, which aired on ABC and ESPN, drew 18.7 million viewers as undefeated South Carolina defeated Clark and Iowa. According to ESPN, this was more than any basketball game (men’s, women’s, college, pro) since 2019.
This broadcast reached an astonishing 24 million viewers.
It’s all proof that the Caitlin Clark effect lives on beyond the college level.
The 2024 WNBA broadcast schedule also highlights four other teams (including the two-time WNBA champions Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, Dallas Wings, and Phoenix Mercury), with exciting storylines for next season. Expansion is planned.
The Aces, who play the second-most games across all platforms, are trying to become the first team to win three straight championships since the then-Houston Comets won four in a row from 1997 to 2000.
Liberty, which narrowly missed out on Las Vegas in last year’s WNBA Finals, has the third-most appearances on national TV after Dallas and Phoenix.
WNBA Marketing for this year’s draftThe event, which will be held April 15 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, will feature Clark as well as many other college players who have contributed to the growth of the women’s game, including LSU’s Angel Reese, South Carolina’s Camila Cardoso and Stanford’s Cameron Brink. Stars will appear.
“Energy and excitement is already being generated by what is expected to be a star-studded rookie class, with 2023 featuring one of the best MVP races in WNBA history and the most-watched regular season in more than two years. The 2020 season is right around the corner.”For decades, the WNBA’s broadcast and streaming partners have supported the league’s superstars, rising stars, rivalries, and the newly restructured WNBA Commissioner’s Cup brought to you by Coinbase. “We provide a huge national platform to showcase our players,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
The 2024 WNBA Draft will be broadcast on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET.
