Caitlin Clark continues to be a ratings dynamo.
Her WNBA debut, a 92-71 loss to the Connecticut Sun in the Indiana Fever, averaged 2.12 million viewers on ESPN2.
That exceeded the NHL playoff game between the Bruins and Panthers, which drew 1.99 million viewers in the comparable slot on ESPN.
The NHL slightly outperformed the WNBA in the 18-49 tier, winning .48 versus .58.
This is a very remarkable number for several reasons.
First of all, it is unusual for ESPN2 to outperform ESPN in prime time.
Second, Sports Media Watch has compiled the following list. The 10 most-watched games in WNBA history — The 10th-ranked game averaged about 2.5 million viewers, the most recent game on the list was in 2000, and streaming and smartphone usage eat into total linear TV viewership. It was a long time ago.
outlet Confirmed this was the most-watched game in the WNBA More than 20 years later.
As another comparison, last year’s WNBA Finals between the Aces and Liberty averaged 728,000 viewers, the highest total viewership in 20 years.
In addition to the NHL games, the Fever Games were also competing against the NBA Playoffs on TNT for part of that window.
Not only that, but the game appealed to its home market, competing with the Pacers-Knicks game, which averaged 4.88 million viewers.
Baseball was also popular on Tuesday nights.
MLB regular season games don’t usually set the national television ratings meters on fire, but millions of people watch the sport every night across the country.
Clark’s game at Iowa State was a dramatic outlier this college basketball season, with the national championship game against South Carolina drawing a record 18.7 million viewers.
