In fact, in the Indiana Fever’s recent preseason game against the Brazilian national team, which saw Clark return to her alma mater Iowa, ESPN averaged 1.3 million viewers throughout the broadcast.
According to Flora Kelly, ESPN’s vice president of research, only two of the 57 NBA games ESPN has televised since 2010 have matched those numbers, both of which featured Los Angeles Lakers’ star LeBron James.
Clark’s pull is undeniable at this point. During her rookie season in the WNBA last year, the league saw 22 of their regular season games average more than 1 million viewers. For perspective, there hadn’t been a WNBA game to average 1 million viewers since 2008.
The question now is whether or not those figures are sustainable.
After all, in order to draw so many viewers for the recent preseason game, ESPN needed Clark’s team to play against a national team at her alma mater. Those scenarios won’t happen during the WNBA regular season. However, it’s arguable that the numbers should only continue to increase during Clark’s career, paving the way for other stars like the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese or Dallas Wings’ rookie Paige Bueckers to garner more followers as well.
WNBA’s viewership numbers with Clark
In 2024, the WNBA’s most watched games on ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, ABC, Ion, and NBA TV all involved the Indiana Fever, per Yahoo Sports. Twenty of the 23 WNBA games to average more than 1 million viewers last year involved Clark.
Furthermore, both the WNBA Draft and All-Star Game have demolished their previous viewership records, with the 2025 draft averaging 1.25 million viewers, second-most ever, with only Clark’s 2024 class garnering more (1.46 million). The 2024 All-Star Game averaged 3.44 million viewers. The previous record was just 1.44 million in 2003.
It’s undeniable that she is the face of the league in just her second season, and while that may upset some people including longtime fans and/or WNBA veterans, it might be best to jump on board before getting left behind, because she is doing wonders for the league’s fandom and revenue.
When does the WNBA regular season start?
The WNBA regular season begins with three games – Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings, Atlanta Dream vs. Washington Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks vs. Golden State Valkyries – on Friday, May 16.
The Fever’s season begins a day later with a nationally televised matchup against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky at 3 p.m. ET in Indianapolis. That games follows a 1 p.m. ET game on ABC, when the defending champion New York Liberty host the Las Vegas Aces.
