%20%20--%3E%0A%3Csvg%20version%3D%221.1%22%20id%3D%22Layer_1%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20xmlns%3Axlink%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F1999%2Fxlink%22%20x%3D%220px%22%20y%3D%220px%22%0A%09%20width%3D%2239px%22%20height%3D%2240px%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2039%2040%22%20enable-background%3D%22new%200%200%2039%2040%22%20xml%3Aspace%3D%22preserve%22%3E%0A%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23FFFFFF%22%20d%3D%22M38.5%2C7H28.2v26h10.3V7z%22%2F%3E%0A%3Cpath%20fill-rule%3D%22evenodd%22%20clip-rule%3D%22evenodd%22%20fill%3D%22%23FFFFFF%22%20d%3D%22M26.1%2C25.5c0%2C5.8-4.1%2C7.5-12.9%2C7.5C3.9%2C33%2C0%2C31.2%2C0%2C25.2v-1.1h11.6%0A%09v2.4c0%2C0.7%2C0.1%2C1.4%2C1.2%2C1.4c1%2C0%2C1.2-0.4%2C1.2-1.3v-0.9c0-1.6-0.9-1.6-3.5-2.2C2.2%2C21.7%2C0%2C19.7%2C0%2C15.3v-0.9C0%2C9.3%2C5.5%2C7%2C12.9%2C7%0A%09c10.2%2C0%2C12.8%2C2.6%2C12.8%2C7.4v1.8h-11v-2.9c0-0.6-0.4-1.1-1.2-1.1c-0.6%2C0-1.2%2C0.4-1.2%2C1.1v0.9c0%2C1.5%2C0.9%2C2%2C3.3%2C2.5%0A%09c8%2C1.6%2C10.5%2C3.3%2C10.5%2C7.5V25.5z%22%2F%3E%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E%0A)
Epic WNBA Finals Game 3 Between Liberty, Lynx Sets Major Ratings Milestone
This year's WNBA Finals has served as an appropriate final set piece to a tremendous 2024 season across the board in the W, and Wednesday night's Game 3 was the best yet. In fact, it was one of the great WNBA Finals games in the history of the league—according to the ratings, that is.
On Thursday ESPN announced that Game 3's 80-77 New York Liberty win over the Minnesota Lynx averaged 1.4 million viewers and peaked at two million, which makes it the most-viewed WNBA Finals game in over 20 years on any network. The even bigger milestone? It's the most-viewed WNBA Finals game of all-time on cable.
Wednesday night's Game 3 matchup on ESPN between #LIGHTITUPNYL & #LynxRecognize was the most-viewed #WNBAFinals game EVER on cable
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 17, 2024
More: https://t.co/H5QqNHgkPO pic.twitter.com/5XyHkwQIRH
That does not mean it's the highest-rated WNBA Finals game of all time, to be clear. That honor belongs to the 1999 Game 5 between the Houston Comets and Liberty, which aired on NBC and drew 3.25 million viewers.
Still, what a massive number for this Finals. And well-deserved. Sabrina Ionescu's side-step three from the logo to put New York up three with one second left is one of the greatest shots in WNBA playoff history. The fact that a record amount of eyeballs tuned in to see is great for the league.
The Liberty are now up 2-1 and are one win away from the franchise's first title. Their chance to clinch will come on Friday with tip-off at 8 p.m. ET.
More of the Latest Around WNBA
feed
Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.