What Is Driving the Surge in WNBA Viewership and Fan Engagement?
2023 was the breakthrough year for women’s basketball, with the explosion of viewer interest in the national championship game featuring Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, and that growth has carried over to the WNBA since the two stars went pro, as NBA Global Media Insights Team Leader Michelle Auguste notes in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2025.
But a number of other factors beyond the talent and drawing power of these two athletes are driving the exponential surge in fan engagement throughout the WNBA and in other women’s sports, including generational factors, greater access to players, new media distribution models, innovative storytelling, greater brand involvement, and more, according to Auguste, Team Whistle President Joe Caporoso, and Hub Entertainment Research Joe Giegengack.
Join conference chair Andy Beach and other streaming media experts in person Oct. 6–8 in Santa Monica, CA, for more thought leadership, actionable insights, and lively debate at Streaming Media 2025.
Pivotal Years for Women’s Sports and Fan Engagement
“I remember during the Final Four two years ago, I was at a hotel somewhere and went downstairs into the bar and it was all guys my age jumping up and down and having beers and cheering, and I looked up and they were watching Caitlin Clark in the Final Four,” remarks Giegengack. “So it feels to me like there’s this real increase in how invested people are, and it’s not just the people that you see traditionally as fans of women’s sports. Across the board people are finding things to get engaged about. I’m wondering, Michelle, since you’re at one of the leagues, have you noticed that, and to what do you attribute this increase in interest. and does that increase have anything to do with Gen Z or with new ways to connect with athletes through technology?”
“2023 was a pivotal year for women’s sports,” Auguste agrees. “It marked the beginning of the surge that we're witnessing today. And it really started with the rivalry, but the undeniable talent of both Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese during their college careers. " In 2024, "the women's championship averaged 18.9 million viewers. That was higher by a sizable amount compared to the men's championship. And this was unheard of. This is the first time that the women’s championship actually beat the men's championship... And then when Caitlin and Angel moved on to WNBA, we definitely saw an increase in our viewership. In fact, last season was the most-viewed season we’ve had in 24 years, outperforming both the NHL and MLB regular seasons.”
Auguste goes on to argue that the growing fan base isn’t just watching Clark’s Indiana Fever games; “even if you took the Indiana Fever out of the equation, our viewership would still have been up 79% year over year. We just had our new season kick off last week, and we had the most-viewed opening week in 21 years, drawing about 1.3 million. So I really think this is just the beginning, and I can't wait to see where this goes, but I think a number of factors have played a role in the surge. I think representation--women growing up playing sports and then seeing themselves on television—has definitely helped drive the viewership. And, to your point, technology—having greater access to the players and being able to follow the players, getting to know the players on a different and more personal level—all of this plays a role. And [in the current] political climate, the way that sports provides some escapism and just brings light to people's lives—all of that has been playing a role in driving the viewership for women's sports in general.”
Social Engagement, Brand Investment, Innovative Storytelling, and Greater Reach
Team Whistle’s Caporoso believes that the surge in women's sports fandom goes beyond more fans watching the games. Vastly expanded social engagement and dramatically increased brand interest open up new opportunities “for different kinds of storytelling,” he says. “I’ve been at Team Whistle for 12 years and I’ve been really happy and pleasantly surprised, in the last three or four years, to see how our formats and longer-form storytelling and podcasts and conversations are really clicking that much more within the women’s sports space and how much more interest there's been from brands. And we’re hearing some of the stories of these athletes that are becoming that much more prominent now. I don't think that's going to slow down anytime soon.”
“The distribution and the reach for these sports are going to continue to grow,” Auguste confirms. “Next year the WNBA is going to have a much wider distribution model. Instead of being on CBS Sports, we're going to be on CBS, and I think you’re going to start seeing women's sports having greater presence on these bigger networks and streaming platforms, which will then increase the reach and awareness of the sports themselves."
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