WNBA viewership tops records as rookies shine, women’s sports interest grows
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Team WNBA player Arike Ogunbowale celebrates with Caitlin Clark and Allisha Gray after making a three-point shot.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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CHICAGO – Soaring viewership, surging media attention and an electrifying rookie class featuring standouts Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese marked the strongest first half of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) season since the league’s inception in 1997.
Talks to finalise a “historic” WNBA media deal that reports suggest would be around US$200 million (S$269 million) a year, up from US$60 million currently, reinforces the rising popularity of the league and women’s professional sports in general, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.
With the WNBA All-Star Game on July 20 followed by a month-long Olympic break, players, league executives and media partners are hoping for the momentum to carry through to the second half of the season.
“This weekend is the culmination of a historic first half of the season. We have seen our highest attendance in 26 years, repeatedly set viewership records.
“A lot of our teams are up triple digits in attendance,” Engelbert said.
The television audience has topped records, with 16 games averaging more than one million viewers, breaking the full-season record just halfway through the current one, she added.
Fan voting for All-Star game players jumped over 600 per cent from 2023, while merchandise sales have also hit historic highs.
Much of the interest has to be credited to the most stellar WNBA rookie class in recent memory, led by sharpshooting and passing wizard Clark, and scoring and rebound phenomenon Reese, who carried over a heated college rivalry that has only intensified.
The two 22-year-olds were teammates for the first time for the All-Star side, taking on a Team USA squad featuring WNBA Most Valuable Player front runner A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and others.
Team WNBA won 117-109 at Footprint Centre in Phoenix, with Indiana Fever guard Clark setting an All-Star Game rookie record with 10 assists and contributed four points as well.
Chicago Sky forward Reese finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds – the first rookie in WNBA history to score a double-double in an All-Star game – as Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings scored an All-Star Game record of 34 points to lead Team WNBA.
With the influx of young talent to challenge experienced veterans, hyper-competitive games have helped to attract new fans.
“The play on the floor has been exactly what we had hoped for with great match-ups,” former WNBA star and current broadcast analyst Rebecca Lobo said.
“We’ve seen the ratings play out in a big way... The anticipation of this current season was similar to back when the league started and that has translated into ticket sales and people tuning into television.” REUTERS
