Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark Draws ESPN Viewership Record on WNBA Opening Weekend

Saturday's WNBA regular-season opener between Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever and Angel Reese's Chicago Sky set a new viewership record for ESPN.

ESPN announced Tuesday that the Fever vs. Sky game averaged 2.7 million viewers with a high-water mark of 3.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA game ever on ESPN platforms.

The Las Vegas Aces vs. New York Liberty game on Saturday averaged 1.3 million viewers with a peak viewership of 1.9 million, contributing to the most-watched WNBA opening weekend of all time for ESPN.

Impressively, the high viewership for the Fever vs. Sky game occurred despite the fact that it ended up being a blowout.

Indiana cruised to a 93-58 victory, led by Clark, who recorded a 20-point, 10-assist, 10-rebound triple-double to go along with four blocks and two steals.

Aliyah Boston, Natasha Howard and Kelsey Mitchell all scored 15 or more points to the Fever as well, which spoke to their depth and their status as a potential championship contender in 2025.

Reese led the Sky with 12 points and 17 rebounds, giving her yet another double-double after racking up a league-high 26 double-doubles as a rookie last season.

Only one other Sky player scored in double figures, meaning Reese received very little help from her supporting cast.

While there wasn't a ton of drama during the second half of the game as far as the score was concerned, things got chippy during the third quarter when Clark administered a hard foul to Reese:

Clark was called for a flagrant foul after swiping down on Reese's arm from behind, and Reese didn't take kindly to the foul, as she appeared to shout at Clark upon getting back to her feet.

Numerous Fever and Sky players intervened, and Clark walked away from the situation as Reese continued to yell in her direction.

The only intrigue after that related to whether Clark would complete the triple-double and she did precisely that, starting her MVP campaign in style.

Thanks to the influx of talent such as Clark and Reese, the WNBA had its most successful year ever in terms of viewership last season.

ESPN announced back in October that the 2024 WNBA regular season saw games on ESPN platforms average 1.2 million viewers, which was the highest ever and a 170 percent increase from 2023.

The most-watched game last season was a June matchup between Clark's Fever and Reese's Sky, which averaged 2.3 million viewers. Their first meeting of 2025 already surpassed that number.

Based on the early results from opening weekend and the arrival of 2025 No. 1 overall draft pick Paige Bueckers with the Dallas Wings, the 2025 WNBA season appears poised to smash the records set last season.