WNBA All-Star Game Breaks Television Rating Record

The WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix drew a record number of viewers on Saturday, breaking the previous record set 21 years ago.

A total of 3.44 million people watched the game on ABC, breaking the previous record of 1.44 million viewers set in 2003. The game was attended by a number of current and future Hall of Famers, including Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, Lisa Leslie and Sue Bird.

Last year’s game, also played in primetime and televised by ABC, drew 850,000 viewers.

Interest in the WNBA and game attendance have exploded this year, thanks in part to the addition of a high-profile crop of rookies, including Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese.

“This weekend’s extraordinary ratings highlight the exponential growth of women’s sports and ESPN is proud to showcase this incredible competition and its exceptional athletes on such a grand stage,” said Julie Sobieski, ESPN’s senior vice president of league programming and acquisitions, according to The Athletic.

According to Sports Media Watch, the All-Star Game was the most-watched WNBA event since the league’s opening week in June 1997. The first game in league history was watched by 5.04 million people, with 3.59 million people watching the following day.

According to The Athletic, the All-Star Game was the 17th WNBA game this year with more than 1 million viewers. Clark appeared in 15 of those games.

In the past 16 years, a WNBA game has not attracted more than 1 million viewers.