The WNBA Draft is officially bigger than 2 major men’s sports leagues

NEW YORK CITY — Cameras surrounded Paige Bueckers as she made her way into the WNBA Draft on Monday. Bueckers, the inevitable No. 1 pick in the draft, was already one of women’s basketball’s biggest names, and fittingly, ESPN projected her Instagram following onto the in-arena jumbotron, which showcased she would immediately be one of the most-followed athletes in the WNBA.

Fifteen other women’s college basketball stars also meandered into The Shed in Hudson Yards, the sleek Manhattan building where the draft was held. For the second year in a row, fans could purchase tickets and attend. This year, general admission tickets were going for twice the price, up from $49 to $99.

Among the stars were Hailey Van Lith, who was accompanied by TCU coach Mark Campbell, her parents, and her boyfriend, Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs. Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore, styled by NBA star Russell Westbrook, sat front and center with her family.

Then there was Kiki Iriafen, who arrived with her family, all of whom donned traditional Nigerian attire.

“I wanted to look good, I wanted to feel good,” Iriafen said in her post-Draft interview. “This dress was designed by Nigerian designer Nneka Alexander and I just wanted to show off my culture on this big stage.”

And it was worthwhile for Iriafen to wear such a special outfit — because the 2025 WNBA Draft was a massive stage.

The two-hour program averaged 1.25 million viewers, the league announced, the second-most of any draft in WNBA history.

No, it didn’t compare to the 2024 WNBA Draft, which Caitlin Clark headlined last spring. That draft saw nearly twice the viewership — averaging 2.4 million viewers — in large part due to Clark’s unprecedented popularity, as well as the myriad of other big names in the class, like Angel Reese and Cameron Brink.

But 2025 shouldn’t be compared to 2024

For one, the 2024 Draft came off the heels of a record-breaking championship game between LSU and Iowa.

And two, because Clark has already demonstrated she single-handedly uplifts viewership numbers in a way few others have been able to.

Six WNBA networks set ratings records last season — and all six featured games headlined by Clark. Of the top 15 most-viewed games last WNBA season, Clark appeared in 14.

Clark’s final three college games — an Elite 8 matchup against LSU, a Final Four matchup against UConn, and a championship game against South Carolina — became the three most-watched women’s college basketball games ever.

So, there are zero questions about whether women’s basketball receives a massive ratings boost when Clark is involved.

The question is, what about when she’s not?

Already, 2025 has shown itself to be an excellent year when it comes to women’s basketball ratings — the 2025 NCAA tournament was the second-most-viewed women’s tournament on record.

And, despite quickly turning into a blowout, the national championship game between UConn and South Carolina had the third-highest viewership since ESPN began carrying the tournament in 1996, per ESPN.

The WNBA Draft saw more viewers than the NHL, MLB

Instead of being compared to the 2025 WNBA Draft, viewership numbers relating to the 2025 WNBA Draft should be compared to other sports.

The 2024 NHL Draft, for example, averaged 502,000 viewers. More than twice as many people tuned in to watch Bueckers and the rest of the prospects enter than Macklin Celebrini and his class join the NHL.

The MLB Draft’s first round averaged 863,000 viewers. Baseball — America’s pastime — has been trumped by women’s basketball, at least when it comes to the draft.

Before 2024, the WNBA Draft never exceeded 601,000 viewers. That number came when Diana Taurasi finished a storied UConn career in 2004.

These recent numbers are a massive jump from recent years; per The Athletic, in 2020, the WNBA Draft drew 387,000 viewers. In 2021, it drew 331,000 viewers, and in 2022, it drew 403,000 viewers.

On Monday, the WNBA Draft was the most-viewed program across all of television among males 18-49, and all adults 18-34. It also surpassed two other major pro sports.

Even as recent as five years ago, few could have imagined that more people would tune into a women’s basketball draft than the MLB or NHL’s draft — but women’s basketball has come a long way. And, the next crop of stars — USC’s JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, UCLA’s Lauren Betts — indicates that this growth could sustain for years to come.