Caitlin Clark’s Win Over Angel Reese, Chicago Sky Sets ESPN WNBA Viewing Record

A big win for Indiana and ESPN.
The Fever's big win over the Sky drew a record number of viewers on ESPN
The Fever's big win over the Sky drew a record number of viewers on ESPN / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Caitlin Clark got off to a great start this WNBA season, posting a triple-double as she led the Indiana Fever to a dominant 93-58 win over Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky in the season opener. In the process she proved her draw to fans was no flash in the pan.

On Tuesday ESPN announced the Fever-Sky game set a new viewership record for the network. An average of 2.7 million viewers tuned into the Clark-Reese showcase, peaking at 3.1 million, which makes it the most-watched WNBA game in ESPN history— including regular season and postseason.

Impressive numbers. Clark and Reese's rivalry is a top storyline in the WNBA and got some more juice after the star point guard flagrantly fouled the Sky center on Saturday. Clark posted a clean statline of 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in the dominant victory, while Reese scored 12 points and pulled down 17 boards. In the aftermath of their matchup, though, the WNBA announced an investigation into alleged racial comments from fans during the game.

The new record should serve as an early reminder of Clark's stardom as it relates to viewers. She was the driving force behind the W's greatest ratings season ever in 2024. The superstar obviously doesn't seem set to slow down in that regard.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

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.