The WNBA All-Star on Saturday more than doubled the previous record for the event and became the third most watched program in league history.
The record-breaking viewership this season has been largely attributed to the influx of the 2024 draft class, which features actors Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. On multiple networks, Clark and the Indiana Fever have set new records for viewership. The game that went down to the wire between the Fever and Reese and the Chicago Sky turned into the most viewed in the league in over 20 years.
As WNBA All-Stars, Reese and Clark collaborated for the first time in their basketball careers on Saturday. The All-Stars decisively defeated the U.S. women’s national team, led by guard Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings.
A Front Office Sports report states that 3.44 million people watched the game. 1.44 million was the previous record for the All-Star Game, which was established in 2003. Furthermore, the stats from this year’s All-Star Game are 300% higher than those from 2023.
The third-largest crowd in the league’s history attended this year’s All-Star game. Sports Media Watch statistics indicates that the game is just slightly behind two games from the 1997 WNBA opening weekend. It will take some time to surpass the league’s all-time record, which was set on June 21, 1997, when over 5 million fans watched the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks game.