ESPN's 2-Word WNBA Season TV Ratings Summary Says It All

The WNBA's historic growth is shown once again through an ESPN TV ratings announcement.

May 28, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark before the game against the Washington Mystics at Entertainment & Sports Arena. Mandatory Credit: Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images | Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images

There have been several announcements regarding WNBA TV ratings in recent days. The most notable have been the ratings that have been revealed from the 2025 WNBA Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury. Specifically, Game 1, which was the most-watched WNBA Finals game since the league's inaugural season in 1997, has received a lot of positive attention.

On October 15, ESPN made another X post revealing that ESPN recorded the most-watched WNBA postseason ever across its networks, as the entire postseason averaged 1.2 million viewers. This makes for a 5% increase from last season.

It's no secret that the league has been experiencing a ton of growth in recent years. It's also no secret that much of this growth is owed to Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark, as she has brought an unprecedented amount of eyeballs and attention to the league ever since she came to the WNBA as a rookie in 2024.

However, Clark was injured for the entire postseason, which shows that these historic ratings aren't the byproduct of her competing.

Sep 7, 2025; Baltimore, MD, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) looks on from the bench against the Washington Mystics during the first quarter at CFG Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images | Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

ESPN Full Season WNBA ratings Reveals Speaks Volumes

The league's ratings success without Clark on the court is undoubtedly a good thing, and bodes very well for when she's back to full health in 2026.

And the positive momentum the WNBA is seeing was continued with yet another positive update regarding TV ratings from ESPN on October 16. This time, their X post wrote, "History made! 🏀

"The 2025 #WNBA season on ESPN networks was the most-watched EVER across the regular season & postseason 👏".

History made! 🏀

The 2025 #WNBA season on ESPN networks was the most-watched EVER across the regular season & postseason 👏

Details: https://t.co/AO0qxKUUee pic.twitter.com/RBtp7028F4

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 16, 2025

In a subsequent press release from ESPN's Alex Feuz, it was written, "Across 25 regular season games, WNBA on ESPN networks averaged 1.3M viewers, up 6% year-over-year, which marked the most-watched WNBA regular season on its networks."

The fact that ESPN wrote, "History made!" in their X post says it all about where the league is at right now, as it feels like the league continues to make more and more history, which is sure to continue in the years to come.

While Clark's fingerprints can't be pointed to when speaking about the WNBA postseason ratings, it certainly can regarding the league's successful opening weekend. In fact, the May 17 WNBA season opener between Clark's Fever and Angel Reese's Chicago Sky squad was the most-watched WNBA game all season long (it received 2.7 million viewers).

It will be awesome to see how the WNBA builds upon this momentum heading into this offseason and during the 2026 campaign.