The truth about the WNBA playoff ratings without Caitlin Clark

Even in Caitlin Clark's absence, her presence is felt. That's because WNBA social media discourse can't seem to keep her out of the conversation, even when she's not playing.

This was highlighted again when a post from @HanaHoops on X went viral. The post read: “I thought people would stop watching because Clark wasn’t playing? 🙊”.

It was sent in response to the news that the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx had the highest viewership ever recorded for a Game 1.

This is obviously great news for the league, but the above message was an implicit attack on Clark fans and likely media outlets that had been reporting declining ratings without Indiana Fever in play.

Here's the truth: two things are true at the same time.

1. Games with Clark performed much better than other competitions. This fact was true in their final playoff game, where the Fever drew 2.5 million viewers, compared to 1.1 million for Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Game 1 of the Fever and Sun series also drew 1.8 million viewers in the middle of an NFL Sunday, a 330% increase over the 2023 first-round game that aired on the same channel.

2. Overall WNBA numbers are up in general, and Game 1 returns have been great in the context of previous years. The 1.1 million for Game 1 was a huge jump from the 729,000 drawn in the first game between the Liberty and Las Vegas Aces last season. That's a 57% increase and is the first WNBA Finals game in over 20 years to reach one million viewers.

It's no secret that Clark's entry into the league brought with it unprecedented ratings and viewership.

These successes are too numerous to digest easily, but they can be summed up by noting that “The Fever” routinely hit the one million viewer mark, even in the regular season, which was the benchmark heading into the finals represented for history.

But just because the ratings didn't reach Clark and the Fever's peak doesn't mean the numbers for the WNBA Finals aren't still a resounding victory.

Championship Series viewership has increased year-over-year since 2019, with this year representing by far the largest jump over that period.

It also follows the series Aces and Liberty, which regularly flirt with the one million viewer mark, and the crucial Game 5 between Lynx and Sun is also approaching that number.

All represent big improvements over the past and surpass last year's finals.

While Clark is obviously responsible for a huge surge in interest in the league, overall interest has remained high. This is probably why so many seem to be interested in rating comparisons in the first place.

However, the data speaks for itself. And there should be no debate that the returns for the WNBA are extremely positive both with and without Clark.