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Even with Caitlin Clark missing much of the season, the WNBA managed record regular-season audiences across CBS, ABC/ESPN and NBA TV. Figures for ION are still TBD, but the network’s package of Friday night games was flat at the All-Star break. ABC/ESPN had a record WNBA audience for the second straight year, up 6% from 2024 for its game coverage (boosted in part by Nielsen’s new Big Data). The 25 games on ABC/ESPN this season averaged 1.3 million viewers, up from 1.19 million in 2024. That included a company WNBA record of 2.7 million viewers for Sky-Fever to open the season back on ABC on May 17. ESPN networks would end up airing eight of the 10 best WNBA games overall this season. The “WNBA Countdown” show also saw a 7% uptick in 2025. Meanwhile, NBA TV averaged a record 283,000 viewers this season, up 16% from last year’s 244,000.
THE ATHLETIC’s Richard Deitsch also reported that ESPN networks saw a 2% uptick among males and a 13% uptick among female viewers for its games. The top five U.S. markets for games on ESPN networks were Indianapolis, Louisville, Richmond, Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
