The growth in WNBA YouTube views is exploding, with almost two billion hits in 2024, an increase of over a billion from 2023.
Numbers started exploding after 2021, with 2022 reaching almost 300 million hits and 2023 at almost 500 million, according to numbers from Puck News’ Julia Alexander. Now, in the Caitlin Clark era of women’s basketball, both television and online views are at an all-time high.
Women’s Basketball YouTube Views Up to Almost Two Billion In 2024
Women’s basketball’s popularity is at an all-time high. Saturday’s showdown between South Carolina and UConn in the NCAA Women’s National Championship game averaged 8.5 million viewers and peaked at 9.8 million viewers, the third-most watched women’s championship on ESPN platforms ever, according to an ESPN press release.
All eyes on women’s hoops 🏀
South Carolina vs. UConn was the third-most watched NCAA Women’s National Championship on ESPN platforms EVER.#MarchMadness x #WFinalFour pic.twitter.com/ww3lfZIBtN
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) April 8, 2025
Those numbers, although down from the Caitlin Clark frenzy of 2023 and 2024, are still up 75% from the same matchup on ESPN in 2022. ESPN’s Bird & Taurasi Show contributed 703K viewers. Clark’s national championship appearances with Iowa, in 2023 against LSU, and in 2024 against South Carolina, drew 9.9 million and 18.9 million viewers, respectively.
According to a September press release, the WNBA delivered its most-watched regular season in 24 years in 2024, with its highest attendance in 22 years.
The league attracted an all-time record of more than 54 million unique viewers across ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ION, and NBA TV, with a record 22 regular-season games averaging at least one million viewers.
The growth in WNBA YouTube views between 2023 and 2024, let alone 20207 and 2024, is absolutely wild.
I mean, what is that — a 250% increase y/y? pic.twitter.com/6d1FJ5dgVS
— julia alexander (@loudmouthjulia) April 8, 2025
The 2024 season produced the top seven most-watched WNBA games ever on ESPN and the two most-watched WNBA games ever on ABC (both featuring the Indiana Fever’s Clark). A Fever vs. Connecticut Sun game on ESPN2 averaged 2.12 million viewers. The Fever at Chicago Sky averaged 2.25 million viewers on CBS on June 16.
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Unrivaled, a new 3×3 professional league co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart averaged 313,000 viewers on TNT Sports in its opening game, peaking at 364,000. The opening games outpaced last year’s average WNBA regular-season game on cable by 50%, excluding games involving Clark.
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