The Sky’s season opener against the Fever on Saturday was the most-watched WNBA broadcast in ESPN’s history, in-cluding playoff games, with an average of 2.7 million viewers, the network announced Tuesday. Viewership peaked at 3.1 million.
The game that aired before it — the defending champion Liberty hosting the Aces — averaged 1.3 million viewers.
The WNBA has been banking on the Sky-Fever rivalry, and within that the rivalry between Sky forward Angel Reese and Fever guard Caitlin Clark, and got the audience it wanted even as the Fever ran away with a 93-58 win.
The game took an ugly turn in the third quarter when Clark committed a flagrant foul on Reese. The WNBA has since been investigating whether fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis harassed Reese with racial taunts.
As the league tries to grow viewership, all five Sky-Fever games this season are nationally televised. The teams play at the United Center on June 7 (CBS) and July 27 (ABC), then at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Aug. 9 (CBS) and Sept. 5 (ION).
Forty-one of the Fever’s 44 regular-season games will be carried on national broadcasts, while the Sky have 25.
The Sky’s next three games — Thursday against the Liberty, Sunday at the Sparks and Tuesday at the Mercury — will air locally on The U. Their next game on national TV is May 29 against the Wings and No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers.
Reese vs. Clark has been a top draw since the two met in the 2023 national championship game when Reese played at LSU and Clark at Iowa. Reese led the Tigers to the title that year.
They went in the same draft class last year, with the Fever choosing Clark first overall and Reese going seventh to the Sky, who also drafted center Kamila Cardoso third.
Asked last week about the WNBA leaning heavily on Sky-Fever matchups, one of which will kick off its inaugural Rivals Week in August, Reese told the Sun-Times she doesn’t think about it.
“I can’t control what goes on outside of the Chicago locker room, but I really enjoy being here and enjoying this moment here,” she said. “This is something I really, really love being in.”
