Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) maneuvers in front of Washington Mystics guard Ariel Atkins (7) and Washington Mystics guard DiDi Richards (12) during the Washington Mystics-Indiana Fever WNBA game at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, on June 7, 2024.
Craig Hudson | The Washington Post | fake images
Women's basketball's growing popularity didn't stop with the NCAA tournament: Fans are also showing up and tuning in at record levels for Women's National Basketball Association games, the league reported Monday.
The start of the 28th season, which began on May 14, has been the most watched on network television in league history, according to a statement. On ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and CBS, the WNBA is averaging 1.3 million viewers per game, tripling last season's average of 462,000 viewers.
About 400,000 fans attended games in May, the largest number of attendees in the first month in 26 years, according to the league. More than half of those games were sold out.
The WNBA attributed much of the growing fan engagement to its powerful rookie class. T-shirt sales from big names like Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky's Angel Reese contributed to a 236% increase in year-over-year merchandise sales.
The league also reported a more diverse audience. The number of people tuning into games on television grew 60% year over year among people of color. Viewership in the first week of the season more than doubled for girls and people under 35.
“We are encouraged by the growing engagement across all of our verticals, especially as we welcome new and diverse audiences to our fandom,” Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison said in the statement.
