The Indiana Fever drew 1.04 million viewers Wednesday in a game against the Los Angeles Sparks that marked Caitlin Clark’s return after a two-week absence. The audience across USA Network and CNBC was the biggest of the season for the network and the largest late-night regular season WNBA crowd on record for a game that started at 10 PM ET or later.
That number matters because the Fever keep producing huge television results even as Clark’s availability changes from game to game. Last Sunday, their matchup with the Aces pulled 1.55 million viewers on ’s “Women’s Sports Sundays,” and the previous week’s game against the Sparks on CBS drew 1.57 million. In other words, the Fever did not need a perfect run of Clark appearances to stay at the center of the league’s ratings conversation.
The broader picture is even clearer. Four of the six most-watched games on cable or streaming this season have aired on USA Sports, and all involved Clark and the Fever. Each of the five most-watched games this season has featured the Fever, while the team’s strongest results during Clark’s two-week absence came against the Aces and the Sparks. That suggests the audience is not only following one player, even if she remains the main draw.
There is still a split inside the numbers. The two-week stretch without Clark did not send viewers away; it produced the Fever’s two most-watched games in that span, including 1.57 million for the Sparks on CBS and 1.55 million for the Aces on ’s “Women’s Sports Sundays.” The comparison is awkward for anyone trying to reduce the surge to a single name, because the team kept delivering once Clark was sidelined, then immediately added another record-level result when she returned.
As of last Sunday, and ABC were averaging 1.3 million viewers for WNBA games, up 6% from the same point last year, while USA Sports was averaging 512,000 viewers, up 22% from last year’s cable average. The next chance to test the Fever’s pull comes this coming weekend, when the Fever and Aces meet again on NBC’s “Sunday Night Basketball.”
