Caitlin Clark Delivers Massive Ratings AGAIN For WNBA Following Olympic Break
Well, if you thought that the lengthy Olympic break might cool fans off on the WNBA – well, more specifically Caitlin Clark – you would be mistaken!
The Indiana Fever returned from the break with a 98-89 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Friday, followed by a 92-75 win over the Seattle Storm on Sunday.
Both games drew massive numbers of fans to their TV screens as Clark hit the floor for the first time since July's WNBA All-Star Game.
Although the Olympic ratings for the women's basketball gold medal game weren't quite as big as people thought they might be, the return of Clark certainly aided the WNBA over the weekend.
For Friday's game, which aired on the ION Network, the coverage averaged 1.2 million viewers, according to Sports Media Watch.
The Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark have had two games since the Olympic break and both delivered massive viewership for the WNBA.
(Grace Smith/IndyStar/USA TODAY NETWORK)
It was the second-highest WNBA viewership number in history for ION, trailing only – you guessed it – a previous matchup featuring Caitlin Clark earlier this season.
On Sunday, the Fever faced the Seattle Storm in a prime spot: 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. And they delivered.
The game averaged 2.2 million viewers, the fourth-largest viewership number for a WNBA game in the past 20 years.
I sound like a broken record, but you know what's coming. Yes, the only three games to rate higher also featured Caitlin Clark (the WNBA All-Star Game and the two Fever matchups against the Chicago Sky and Angel Reese).
Still, the biggest question remains whether this momentum will carry into football season when sports fans have more options on television.
The college football season kicks off this weekend and the NFL is now