Liberty and Lynx WNBA Finals Was Most Watched Game 1 Ever
The Minnesota Lynx's thrilling comeback win over the New York Liberty in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals was a great game that deserved great ratings. Fortunately, the viewers showed up just like the players on the court did.
In fact, the thrilling overtime contest was the most watched Game 1 on record, according to ESPN. The game averaged 1.1 million viewers and peaked at 1.5 million viewers. Which was good for a 57% jump from the first Finals broadcast a season ago.
#LynxRecognize vs #LIGHTITUPNYL delivers largest WNBA Finals Game 1 audience ever
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 11, 2024
WNBA Countdown Up 54% vs 2023 Finals Avg. on ESPN pic.twitter.com/JTyfU0pvbg
Of course the viewership numbers for the league have been a story all year long, particularly when it comes to the explosive growth in audience that was delivered by Indiana Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark.
Games involving Clark and the Fever routinely drew over a million viewers and Game 2 of their series against the Connecticut Sun brought in 2.5 million.
So anyone who professes the numbers would be significantly higher with Clark involved and have fallen greatly since she has been eliminated would be correct.
However, the ratings have pleasantly plummeted to new highs. When looked at in the context of previous WNBA Finals, the current results are huge and a great sign for the growth of the WNBA as a whole.
Not only did the Lynx win set the record for a Game 1 audience, but it was the most watched WNBA Finals game of any kind and the first to draw over a million viewers in more than 20 years, per Sports Media Watch.
It also continued a pattern of steady growth that has seen the numbers increase year-by-year since 2019. And represented a massive leap from the 729,000 drawn by the Aces and Liberty in Game 1 just a season ago.
Five years ago, Game 1 of the WNBA Finals averaged 238,000 viewers, the smallest audience ever for a Finals game. Viewership has increased in each year since, hitting 1.1 million for Lynx-Liberty Game 1. pic.twitter.com/QXYjWCdrUh
— Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) October 11, 2024
Meaning the positive story that has been the growth of the WNBA continues. As all boats are rising with the tide of the wave that is women's basketball.
Robin Lundberg is a media veteran and hoops head who has spent the bulk of his career with iconic brands like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. His insights have also been featured on platforms such as Fox and CNN and he can currently be heard hosting shows for Sirius XM and on his burgeoning YouTube show. And now he brings his basketball expertise to Women's Fastbreak on SI!