The Big Apple showdown between the Caitlin Clark-led Indiana Fever and the Liberty was the most-viewed-ever WNBA game on ABC with 1.71 million viewers, ESPN announced on Tuesday.
The Liberty — a star-studded team with reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart and star guard Sabrina Ionescu — toppled Clark and the Fever, 91-80, in front of a packed Barclays Center on Saturday.
The broadcast viewership peaked at 1.96 million, according to a release from ESPN.
Clark finished with 22 points with eight assists and six rebounds in the defeat.
The massive broadcast numbers for the game were part of a wider boom for the WNBA, which had its most-viewed WNBA opening weekend doubleheader on ABC.
An average of 1.5 million viewers tuned in across both the Liberty-Fever game and the Los Angeles Sparks’ matchup against the Las Vegas Aces that followed.
The viewership was up 143 percent from the 2023 season average on ABC.
The Caitlin Clark effect has been felt across the WNBA this season, and teams going up against the basketball superstar have seen some dividends.
weekend. Michelle Farsi/New York Post
On Saturday, the Liberty became the first team to pull in $2 million-plus in ticket revenue from a single game, the Associated Press reported.
The Liberty also saw 17,735 fans pack into the Brooklyn arena for the game.
Clark’s WNBA debut earlier in the week already had set a television rating record when the Fever traveled to Connecticut to face the Sun.
The game drew 2.1 million viewers across all platforms, making it the most-watched WNBA game ever broadcast on ESPN and the most-watched WNBA game in 23 years.
On Tuesday, the No. 1 pick in this year’s WNBA draft signed a multi-year partnership with Wilson.