WNBA’s Breakout Season: Record Viewership and Fan Surge Power 2024

September 19, 2024

On Thursday, the WNBA wrapped up one of its most successful seasons since it launched in 1997. Attendance is up 47% across the league, and ESPN viewership increased by 170%.

The WNBA had seen steady viewership growth over the past half-decade, but financial concerns still threatened its long-term survival.

ESPN announced last week that it averaged a record 1.2 million viewers for WNBA regular-season games across its platforms, up 170% versus last year. Perhaps more surprising is that ESPN’s pregame show WNBA Countdown, which averaged 508,000 viewers in 2024, up 113% from last year, drew more than the average viewership for WNBA games from last year, which was 453,900 across ESPN networks. ESPN