WNBA’s opening weekend draws impressive viewership and generates bigger brand exposure

The GIST: This weekend, the WNBA season tipped off on several networks, and the results are in: Interest in the league is widespread across teams and platforms, illustrating how everyone should harness the WNBA’s popularity however they can. Believe the hype.

On ESPN: This weekend was the most-watched WNBA opening weekend ever on the network, with the Chicago Sky–Indiana Fever matchup pulling 2.7M average viewers and peaking at 3.1M in the network’s most-watched W game ever. Additionally, the NY Liberty’s game vs. the Las Vegas Aces averaged 1.3M and peaked at 1.9M viewers.

On Ion: This year’s opening weekend doubleheader saw a 121% YoY jump in viewership as both games featured high profile debuts. Paige Bueckers' first W game was the second most-viewed WNBA on ION matchup that didn’t involve the Fever, while the Golden State Valkyries’ debut was the network’s third most-viewed W game without the Fever.

The brands: The Fever-Sky game was hosted at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with the company’s logo displayed prominently throughout the game. Viewership matters: Gainbridge generated $3.3M in sponsor media value (SMV) last season — the most of any financial brand — despite having fewer total logo exposures than the next closest naming rights partner in the category.

• Chase’s branding was featured throughout the Valkyries’ sellout home opener, and they’re one of several brands to dip into WNBA sponsorships specifically through teaming up with Golden State.

Zooming out: Caitlin Clark driving viewership is nothing new, and brands should consider how to activate around Fever games for easy points on the board. But these numbers also show that the W has pockets of devout fandom across the league’s teams and players.

• Aces star A’ja Wilson cemented her own Chase partnership, while NYC’s Liberty is securing deals thanks to its 10M fans across the U.S. And let’s not forget Bon Iver’s groundbreaking partnership with the Minnesota Lynx in the first deal to connect a recording artist with a women’s sports team. Holding all the tickets.