The WNBA is experiencing a significant increase in national television viewership during the 2025 season. Data from Nielsen, shared with Front Office Sports, reveals the league is averaging 794,000 viewers per game across all networks through 56 contests—marking a 21% increase over the full 2024 season average.
Despite Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark missing half of her team’s games so far this season, Fever games continue to drive the league’s highest numbers. The 19 nationally televised matchups featuring Indiana have drawn an average of 1.26 million viewers—a 7% bump from the 32 Fever games aired during the 2024 season. However, the growth is likely muted due to Clark missing 13 of Indiana’s 26 games so far.
Non-Fever games have also contributed significantly to the league’s year-over-year rise. Across 37 non-Fever broadcasts, networks have averaged 549,000 viewers—up 37% from the 2024 full-season average for such games. While the raw viewership totals are lower than those for Clark-led contests, the spike in non-Fever interest suggests broader league appeal is growing.
ESPN, the WNBA’s most prominent broadcast partner, has seen a 3% increase in viewership across its platforms, which include ABC and ESPN2. The network aired the most-watched game of the season to date: the Indiana Fever’s season opener against the Chicago Sky, which drew 2.7 million viewers.
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CBS has seen even stronger performance in its WNBA coverage. The network is averaging 1.3 million viewers through six games—up 5.5% from this point last year. Two of those games, both involving the Fever, surpassed 1.9 million viewers.
The other four broadcasts, which did not break the one million mark, still averaged 906,000 viewers. That figure exceeds the 729,000 average viewership of the 2023 WNBA Finals and represents a 33% increase over the three non-Fever CBS broadcasts at the same point in 2024.
Ion, which employs a unique distribution model, is averaging close to 600,000 viewers on its linear channel—up 4% year-over-year. Clark has appeared in just one Ion broadcast this season compared to four at this point last year.
NBA TV, while posting the lowest raw viewership average at 339,000, is seeing the most dramatic growth. Compared to last year’s 214,000 average, the network is up 58%.
The 2025 WNBA All-Star Game, held two weeks ago, offers additional context to the league’s momentum. Though the 2.19 million viewers marked a 36% decline from last year’s All-Star Game, which featured Clark, the broadcast still outpaced every other All-Star Game in league history by a margin of 52%.
The upward trend comes as the WNBA prepares for a new media landscape in 2026. NBC Sports is set to join as a national broadcast partner under a newly signed 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal. ESPN will remain as a key distributor in the new agreement.
