The Caitlin Clark effect is in full swing.
She tore up college basketball in four seasons at Iowa, setting record after record — including the NCAA's all-time scoring mark for men's and women's hoops.
To no one's surprise, her popularity has carried over to the WNBA in her rookie season with the Indiana Fever, and the viewership numbers are proof. Just as Clark brought in millions of fans to women's college basketball, she's doing the same for the WNBA.
The Sporting News is tracking WNBA viewership records throughout the 2024 WNBA season, highlighting each time a new TV ratings mark is set.
MORE: Tracking Caitlin Clark's Nike sneaker choices
WNBA TV records in Caitlin Clark's rookie season
Opening weekend doubleheader posts record ABC viewership mark
- Date: Tuesday, May 21
- Source: ABC
Clark's third game of the season came against the New York Liberty — one of the WNBA's most popular and talented teams.
In natural Clark style, the matchup became the most-viewed WNBA game on ABC in league history. Viewership for the game saw an average mark of 1.71 million and peaked at 1.96 million.
Between Clark and Aliyah Boston for the Fever and Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones for the Liberty, there was a ton of star power in the matchup.
That wasn't the only record set during the WNBA's opening weekend. The Fever-Liberty game marked the first game of a doubleheader on ABC, with the Las Vegas Aces and the Los Angeles Sparks facing off in the second game.
The two-game tandem became the most-viewed opening weekend doubleheader on ABC in league history. The weekend doubleheader had an average viewership of 1.5 million, up 143% from ABC's 2023 season average.
The Sparks vs. Aces game, which featured the reigning back-to-back WNBA champs face No. 2 pick Cameron Brink, averaged 1.34 million viewers and peaked at 1.55 million. It was the third-most viewed WNBA game on ABC in history.
Even "WNBA Countdown" increased in viewership that weekend. The pregame show averaged 714,000 viewers, 45% more than the 2023 ABC average.
Caitlin Clark's debut breaks ESPN viewership record
- Date: May 14
- Source: ESPN
Clark's highly anticipated WNBA regular season debut perhaps unsurprisingly broke ESPN's WNBA viewership records.
The Indiana Fever rookie scored 20 points as 2.1 million fans watch across ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+. It was the most-watched WNBA game on any ESPN platform in history. The Fever-Sun matchup peaked at 2.3 million viewers.
This mark broke the previous record set on May 22, 2004, when Diana Taurasi played her second career WNBA game.
"WNBA Countdown" averaged 680,000 viewers, up 126% from the 2023 average.
Behind No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark, WNBA Draft sets TV record
- Date: April 15
- Source: ESPN
Clark's selection with the No. 1 overall pick helped catapult the WNBA Draft to record TV ratings.
The 2024 edition of the event crushed the previous viewership record. An average of 2.45 million fans tuned in to ESPN for the event, and the peak reached 3.09 million.
That number marked a fourfold increase from the 2023 draft, which averaged 572,000 viewers. The largest audience before 2024 came in 2004, when Taurasi was drafted No. 1 overall out of UConn. The 2004 draft averaged 601,000 viewers.
The draft also became the most-viewed WNBA event since 2000, when the Liberty played the Houston Comets in a May contest.