Full Breakdown
Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers Drive Record Viewership on WNBA Opening Weekend
5/14/2026, 12:16:50 PM
Opening Weekend Viewership Highlight
On the opening weekend of the 2024 WNBA season, the matchup between Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers attracted an average of 2.49 million viewers on ABC. The game, which concluded with a 107-104 victory for the Wings, ranked as the league’s second-most-watched regular-season contest on ABC or ESPN and placed 14th among all sports events tracked by Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel for the week.
Draft Context and Player Profiles
The contest featured the final four No. 1 selections from the most recent WNBA draft: Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark representing the Fever, and Paige Bueckers alongside Azzi Fudd representing the Wings. Clark’s appearance marked her first regular-season game since July of the previous year, while Bueckers entered the matchup as a rookie for Dallas.
Viewership Metrics and Rankings
- Average audience: 2.49 million (ABC) – second-most-watched regular-season game on ABC/ESPN.
- Weekly ranking: 14th most-viewed sports event; the top 12 slots were occupied by NBA playoff broadcasts.
- Historical comparison: The 2023 season opener between the Fever and Chicago Sky drew 2.7 million viewers, slightly higher than the 2024 opening game.
- Consistency: All three of the most-viewed WNBA games on ESPN or ABC this season featured Caitlin Clark.
- Doubleheader performance: The second game of the opening-day doubleheader, a rematch of the previous season’s final between Las Vegas and Phoenix, attracted 1.15 million viewers, bringing the doubleheader average to 1.9 million – the second-most-watched opening weekend on ABC and ESPN.
Broadcast Landscape and Platform Distribution
ESPN has broadcast WNBA games since the league’s inception in 1997. The 2024 season will feature a record 216 regular-season games and related events distributed across multiple platforms, including ABC, ESPN, CBS, Amazon Prime Video, ION, NBC, USA Sports, and NBA TV.
Official League Announcement on Broadcast Schedule
The league announced that the upcoming season will present a historic 216 regular-season contests on broadcast and streaming partners, expanding the league’s national reach.
Implications for Visibility and Growth
The viewership figures place the Clark-Bueckers matchup among the top weekly sports broadcasts, with the top 12 sports programs that week being NBA playoff games. The data show that games featuring the league’s most recent No. 1 draft selections can achieve viewership comparable to major professional sports events. The expanded broadcast schedule, which now includes 216 regular-season contests across ABC, ESPN, CBS, Amazon Prime Video, ION, NBC, USA Sports and NBA TV, increases the number of games available on broadcast platforms.
What’s Next
The second game of the opening-day doubleheader, featuring Las Vegas versus Phoenix, will continue the weekend’s coverage, with its 1.15 million-viewer audience contributing to the overall doubleheader average of 1.9 million.
