Connecticut Sun Part of WNBA TV Ratings Surge During 2025 Season

The Connecticut Sun, as part of the WNBA, did things on television that it had not done since the late 1990s.

Connecticut Sun associate head coach Roneeka Hodges talks with guard Marina Mabrey (3) during a break against the Phoenix Mercury in the second half at Mohegan Sun Arena. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Connecticut Sun may have had the second-worst season in the WNBA in 2025, but like the rest of the league they saw a surge in television ratings.

Most of the Sun’s games were available regionally on NBC Sports Boston. Out of market fans were able to watch games on WNBA League Pass. Connecticut was also showcased a few times on national television as part of the league’s overall packages.

The ratings for the WNBA reached heights it hadn’t reached in nearly three decades, according to a report in sports media watch and ESPN, the league’s primary rightsholder.

The WNBA’s Incredible TV Season

ESPN recorded the most-watched WNBA postseason (Playoffs + Finals) EVER across its networks👏 pic.twitter.com/ZJWCI19LUa

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 14, 2025

Per Media Sports Watch, WNBA regular-season games on the league’s four primary national rightsholders — ABC, ESPN, CBS and ION — averaged 969,000 viewers. That was up 3% from 2024 and represented the highest average rating for national games since 1998.

Nielsen, which measures national ratings, used its “Big Data + Panel” measurement, which combines the existing panel-only viewership with data from smart TVs and set-top boxes. But the “Big Data + Panel” only started on Sept. 1. Per Media Sports Watch, both ABC and CBS combined to average 1.3 million viewers during the regular season, up 6% from last year and the highest average on record for the networks.

In the postseason, which ESPN owns exclusive rights to broadcast, the 24 playoff games experienced some of the best ratings in league history. The postseason ratings were up 5% year over year, with 1.2 million average viewers. The WNBA Finals — which was a best-of-seven series for the first time but only went four games due to a Las Vegas Aces sweep — averaged 1.5 million viewers, the second-highest viewed WNBA Finals after the 2024 edition.

Game 1 of the series between the Aces and the Phoenix Mercury had 1.9 million viewers, the highest rated Game 1 in league history.

It’s good news for the Sun and for the league, which starts a new 11-year, $2.2 billion deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBCUniversal next season.

Sun fans and team leadership are wading through two major offseason issues before negotiations can even start on building the 2026 roster. The WNBA and the players’ union are working on a new collective bargaining agreement. The current one expires on Oct. 31, but the two sides are far apart on a new agreement. The agreement will set the framework for player salaries for the next several years.

The Sun is also dealing with potential ownership issues. The Mohegan Tribe, which owns the team, has entertained majority and minority ownership offers from a current NBA minority team owner, a former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and the league, which intended to pass the team to Houston. The state of Connecticut wants to keep the team in the state, to the point where it is willing to invest part of its pension fund in the franchise.

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