WNBA Finals TV audience hits 20-year high

[October 20, 2023]  The WNBA Finals averaged 728,000 viewers per game on ESPN and its platforms, making it the most-watched Finals in 20 years, the network said Thursday.
 
The Las Vegas Aces beat the New York Liberty 70-69 in Game 4 to win the best-of-five series three games to one. They became the first team since the Los Angeles Sparks (2001-02) to win back-to-back WNBA championships.  

The average audience across ABC and ESPN was the highest since the 2003 Finals between the Detroit Shock and Los Angeles. It marked a 36 percent increase from the viewership in 2022.

ESPN also said Game 4 averaged 889,000 viewers -- making it the most-watched WNBA Finals Game 4 ever. It peaked at 1.3 million viewers late in the back-and-forth game.

The Finals pitted the top two playoff seeds in a battle of super-teams. The Aces, powered by two-time league MVP A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and others, went 34-6 in the regular season; the Liberty, in their first season with Breanna Stewart (the 2023 MVP), Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot, went 32-8.

Overall, the WNBA playoffs averaged 470,000 viewers, making it the most-watched postseason in 16 years.

--Field Level Media

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