Setting aside the records set by the WNBA this year.
Yes, the league has seen exceptional growth in television ratings and attendance in the opening months of the season. National broadcasts averaged 1.32 million viewers, triple last year’s average of 462,000, and games drew the largest attendances in the league’s opening month of a season in 26 years.
Caitlin Clark, who made more history on Wednesday night when she broke the WNBA single-game assist record, has been credited with contributing to this growth, drawing more attention to the league than at any time in recent history with her record-breaking performance at the University of Iowa.
There will be even more attention on the league this weekend when the league’s all-star game, featuring U.S. Olympians including the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu and a team of WNBA all-stars including rookies Clarke and Angel Reese, takes place in front of a sellout crowd in Phoenix. The stakes in that game are significant, Stewart said Tuesday. (Don’t expect to see Clarke or Ionescu in the 3-point contest, though.)
