Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese joining forces against the U.S. women’s national team for this year’s WNBA All-Star Game not only helped produce a Team WNBA victory, but also shattered the all-time audience mark for a WNBA All-Star Game broadcast.
Saturday’s showcase drew 3.44 million viewers on ABC, per Nielsen. That crushes the previous audience record set in 2003, when 1.441 million viewers tuned into ABC for a Saturday afternoon tilt at Madison Square Garden. That game featured an abundance of all-time greats, including Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird, Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, Tamika Catchings, Tina Thompson, Lauren Jackson, Teresa Weatherspoon, Chamique Holdsclaw, Katie Smith, Yolanda Griffith, Swin Cash and Nykesha Sales, among others. (There was also a first-time All-Star guard from the New York Liberty named Becky Hammon.)
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The 2024 All Star Game audience number tracks as the most-watched WNBA event on any ESPN network, and the third-most watched WNBA game of all-time, based on data from Sports Media Watch. The audience for the game peaked from 10:30 – 10:43 p.m. ET with 4,054,000 viewers. It is the 17th WNBA game this year that has topped 1 million viewers, a remarkable achievement given the league had not hit the million viewership mark in the previous 16 years.
Clark has played in 15 of those 17 games.
The two most-watched non-All-Star Games this season were between Clark’s Indiana Fever and Reese’s Chicago Sky. Each topped 2 million viewers. Saturday’s game was well up over last year’s game which averaged 850,000 viewers on ABC, making it the then-most watched WNBA All-Star Game since 2007.
“This weekend’s extraordinary viewership underscores women’s sports’ exponential growth and ESPN is proud to showcase this incredible league and its exceptional athletes on such a grand stage,” said Julie Sobieski, ESPN SVP of League Programming and Acquisitions
This year marked the second year in a row ESPN/ABC officials opted to air the the WNBA All Star game on a network (ABC) in prime time. That helped viewership pop significantly in addition to the flood of stars on the court and exciting the action was. Arike Ogunbowale’s scoring barrage — an All-Star Game-record 34 points in the second half — saw her claim her second All-Star MVP in what was arguably the best All-Star Game in history based on competitiveness.
Required reading
- WNBA is entering a new era: Skyrocketing viewership, sold-out arenas, young stars
- How high can Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese take WNBA All-Star Game viewership?
(Photo: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
