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Paige Bueckers might not have topped Caitlin Clark when it comes to viewership, but she did take out her fellow UConn alum Diana Taurasi.
ESPN announced on Tuesday that the WNBA Draft averaged 1.25 million viewers. That’s the second most-watched WNBA Draft in history, only behind the 2.4 million viewers who watched Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink & Co. last year. If you dig into the demos, it was the most-viewed program on Monday across all of television among males 18-34, males 18-49 and all adults 18-34. The broadcast peaked at 1.46 million viewers.
The all-time viewership for a WNBA Draft before 2024? That came in 2004 for Diana Taurasi’s draft year, a broadcast that drew 601,000 viewers.
The five-year breakdown for WNBA Draft viewership is as follows:
2025: 1.25 million viewers
2024: 2.4 million viewers
2023: 572,000 viewers
2022: 403,000 viewers
2021: 331,000 viewers
2020: 387,000 viewers
It will be interesting to see what kind of broadcast draw Bueckers will be as a pro, but recent viewership history suggests a healthy one. The NCAA women’s title game between UConn and South Carolina earlier this month averaged 8.5 million viewers, peaking at 9.8 million. That was the third most-watched final in the ESPN era behind the record-breaking South Carolina-Iowa game in 2024 (18.9 million) and the 2023 final between LSU-Iowa (12.3 million), both of which featured Clark.
Obviously, UConn and South Carolina are both significant draws as national programs and have built-in interest, but there are casual sports fans who want to see Bueckers play. Bigger picture: The WNBA continues to grow. On Monday, The Athletic reported that ESPN will broadcast what is believed to be the WNBA’s first nationally televised exhibition game when Clark returns to Iowa for the Indiana Fever’s game against Brazil’s national team on May 4.
(Photo: Elsa / Getty Images)
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