The WNBA’s 2023 regular season provided the breakthrough it had been waiting for in its 27-year history. This year’s regular season exceeded all expectations for basketball enthusiasts. The season has seen an uncommon ebb and flow of electric performances in WNBA history. The defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces, are preparing to close off the season with another consecutive victory over Breanna Stewart’s Liberty, who are only one win away. The overwhelming prowess projected by the Aces is extremely potent, as the viewership of the Game 1 Finals broke all prior records. Twelve clubs worked extensively to raise league standards. The WNBA’s media horizon is continually expanding.

However, the comparison of WNBA popularity to NBA viewership has some dubious statistics. Can the former become as popular as the latter?

An illuminating rise in the viewership of the WNBA

Last year’s NCAA Finals between Caitlin Clarke’s Iowa Hawkeyes and Angel Reese’s LSU Tigers saw a record of 14.7 million views. And it’s time for the WNBA to follow suit. According to ESPN, the 2023 season finals have received a massive amount of attention. Since its inception in 1997, the 2023 regular season has unquestionably been the pinnacle of success.

According to an ESPN report on Tuesday, October 10, Game 1 of the 2023 WNBA Finals had the highest viewership ever seen on ESPN and its networks. ESPN’s official Twitter handle has commented on the constant rise of statistics. The league’s total viewership grew by 27%, while the Finals had an 18% rise in viewership. With an average of 548,000 viewers, last year’s Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and the Connecticut Suns remain the most watched Finals since 2017. And this season has continued to break records.

The league’s last match featured the two super-teams competing for the coveted MVP and DPOY. And as a consequence, the average viewership reached 555,000, with a peak of 872,000. Up 18% from the first WNBA Finals game in 21 years.

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However, the growth in viewership will attract more endorsements and push the WNBA’s economics to take on a larger shape.

The dainty gap in the viewership rate between the NBA and WNBA

When compared to NBA playoff games, the number of viewers for the WNBA Finals is significantly lower. However, this year’s NBA Finals were underwhelming, with only 11.65 million fans tuning in on average. This was a 6% decrease from the previous season’s finals, which saw the Golden State Warriors upset the Boston Celtics in six games and average 12.4 million viewers. The highest-rated game of the NBA postseason and the Finals averaged 13.08 million viewers for the fifth and determining game.

11.65 million people saw the Miami Heat vs. Denver Nuggets NBA Finals in 2022?2033, which is fewer than the playoffs for the season. NBA playoff and finals viewing statistics may be out of control. Because the focus of the ordinary audience is on individual stars rather than the team.

Fans are more interested in seeing their favorite players make baskets than in the level of the games they play. Therefore, the NBA’s best stars help lure viewers. Similar tendencies have been noticed in the WNBA, where a rise in views may be attributed to the Finals match just to witness the strike between the two MVPs.

The strike between A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart

Despite the fact that viewership has been flourishing in recent years, this year saw a spike in electricity. Even as all the teams are playing well, the power duo of the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty has contributed to a surge in both on- and off-court viewing. Mainly due to two names: A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.

The tight fight for MVP between two players hampered the game from the start, as Breanna Stewart eventually won the award, while A’ja was rewarded with DPOY.

Since then, these two’s epic struggle has been eagerly anticipated, and when they met in the finals, there was an exhilarating surge in the viewership.

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Though the WNBA lags far behind the NBA and NCAA in terms of viewing, the constant climb in numbers is an encouraging trend.