The WNBA Finals is putting up viewership numbers not seen in decades.
ESPN said the 2025 WNBA Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury has produced the most-viewed WNBA Finals through two games since 2000. The series is averaging 1.5 million viewers between games on ABC and ESPN. That’s the best number through two games since the Houston Comets and New York Liberty averaged 1.54 million viewers in 2000 after games on NBC and Lifetime.
Advertisement
Game 1 of the 2025 WNBA Finals — a 89-86 Las Vegas win — averaged 1.9 million viewers on ESPN, up 62 percent from the Minnesota Lynx vs. Liberty in 2024. That was the most-watched Finals opener since the WNBA’s first season in 1997, a single-elimination game won by Houston that averaged 2.8 million viewers on NBC. Sports Media Watch said this year’s opening game was the second most-watched Finals audience since 2000, trailing only last year’s winner-take-all Game 5 (2.2 million viewers).
Sunday’s Game 2 on ABC averaged 1.2 million viewers as Las Vegas stars Jackie Young and A’ja Wilson in Game 2 combined for 60 points in a 91-78 win.
Wednesday’s Game 3 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) does have significant viewership competition — with an all-day smorgasbord of playoff baseball and four NHL games that signal the start of the season for those eight NHL teams.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, WNBA, Sports Business
2025 The Athletic Media Company
