WNBA All-Star Game shatters previous ratings mark, draws 3.44 million viewers

[RandySF]

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.

Sunday’s showcase drew 3.44 million viewers on ABC, crushing 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.)



https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5652893/2024/07/23/wnba-all-star-game-ratings-viewership/?source=user_shared_article

[spooky3]

1. It was fun to watch, until the Olympic team was down in the 4th

And started to panic, missing three pointers with no one ready to rebound. OTOH if some of the wnba players had had more chances to train or play with Caitlin Clark, the score might have been even more lopsided, because they weren’t always expecting her amazing assist attempts.

Congrats to all and hope the ratings and ticket sales continue to improve.

[RandySF]

2. There' another strong rookie class coming next year.

[spooky3]

3. Great! Nt

[moniss]

4. It was a great game to watch and

both teams played very hard. I heard one report that they feel they could have sold another 10,000 tickets at least if they could have gotten a bigger venue. Apparently this one was about 18,000 max. The amazing thing about all of this is how much the supposed controversy/negative reporting about the W early in the season is now a "feel good' story for the ages. I think it owes a great deal to a 22 year old from West Des Moines not taking the media bait, keeping her head up and focusing on playing ball. I think the media people who were pushing "angles" realized they were not going to get Caitlin to say and do things to further some "us versus them" back and forth for the media to feed on. They sure tried hard though.