Though it only lasted four games, the WNBA Finals performed incredibly well on ESPN this fall.
The network announced on Tuesday that the Las Vegas Aces’ series win over the Phoenix Mercury averaged 1.5 million viewers per game. That made it the second-most-watched WNBA Finals in history, behind only last year’s battle between the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty.
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Game 1, which the Aces won 89-86, was the best performing game of the series. That drew about 1.9 million viewers and peaked at 2.5 million viewers. That made it the most-watched opening game of a series in 28 years. Only the 1997 Final, which was a winner-take-all contest, performed better.
In total, the league averaged about 1.2 million viewers per game throughout the entire playoffs. That’s up about 5% from last season, and made this year the most-watched WNBA postseason ever on ESPN.
The Aces, behind reigning league MVP A’ja Wilson, rolled over the Mercury to grab a 4-0 win in the Finals, which expanded to seven games for the first time this fall. It marked the Aces’ third championship in the last four seasons. Wilson earned Finals MVP honors, too, which only added to her historic year. She’s now the first player in WNBA or NBA history to win the scoring title, regular-season MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP in the same season.
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While the league is drawing as much attention as ever, it is at a critical moment amid the ongoing negotiations between the players and leadership over a new collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA expires on Oct. 31, and things have turned tense after players — most notably Napheesa Collier — have publicly called out commissioner Cathy Engelbert. The league is set to receive $200 million per season as part of a new 11-year, $2.2 billion media deal with Disney, Amazon and NBC. It also expanded a deal with ION, and reached an 11-year deal with the USA Network.
Whether a new deal gets done in time to avoid a lockout remains to be seen. But if this season’s playoff numbers are any indication, fans are still absolutely locked into the WNBA.
