The WNBA All-Star Game was must see TV. The rivals turned teammates, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, joined forces for one night only, against the U.S. women’s national team for the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game in the desert, Phoenix, not only helped produce a Team WNBA victory, 117-109, but also clobbered the all-time audience record for a WNBA All-Star Game broadcast.
Saturday’s showcase drew 3.44 million viewers on ABC, according to Nielsen. That demolishes the previous audience record set back in 2003, when 1.441 million viewers tuned into ABC for a Saturday matinee tip-off at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. That game was highlighted by an abundance of all-time greats and Hall of Famers, including Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird, Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, Tamika Catchings, Tina Thompson, Lauren Jackson, Teresa Weatherspoon, Chamique Holdsclaw, Katie Smith, Yolanda Griffith, Swin Cash and Nykesha Sales, among others. There was also a first-time All-Star guard from the New York Liberty named Becky Hammon, now coach of the Los Vegas Aces and a two-time WNBA champion.
The 2024 All Star Game audience number came in as the most-watched WNBA event on any ESPN platform, and the third-most watched WNBA game of all-time, based on data from Sports Media Watch. The audience for the game was at its apex from 10:30 – 10:43 p.m. ET with 4,054,000 viewers. It is the 17th WNBA game this year that has eclipsed 1 million viewers, a remarkable feat that no one could have dreamed of, given the league had not hit the million-viewership mark in the previous 16 years.
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Clark is one of the major reasons why, playing in 15 of those 17 contests.
The two most-watched non-All-Star Games this season were matchups between Clark’s Indiana Fever and Reese’s Chicago Sky on June 1 and June 16. Each topped 2 million viewers. Saturday’s game was well up over last year’s game which averaged 850,000 viewers on ABC, making it the then-most watched WNBA All-Star Game since 2007.
“This weekend’s extraordinary viewership underscores women’s sports’ exponential growth and ESPN is proud to showcase this incredible league and its exceptional athletes on such a grand stage,” said Julie Sobieski, ESPN SVP of League Programming and Acquisitions.
This year marked the second consecutive year ESPN/ABC officials made the decision to air the WNBA All Star game on a network (ABC) in prime time. That helped viewership sky rocket significantly in addition to the overflow of stars on the hardwood and how entertaining and exciting the action was. Arike Ogunbowale’s scoring barrage, an All-Star Game-record 34 points, all in the second half, saw her claim her second All-Star MVP award in what was arguably the best All-Star Game in history based solely on competitiveness.
