As teams prepare for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) semifinals this weekend, the league is nearing the end of a record-breaking season that saw an increase in viewership and support for women’s professional basketball, according to a WNBA official release.
This season’s dramatic climb in ratings was noticeable in even the earliest games of the regular season. The league’s opening month in May was the highest-attended opening month in 26 years and its most-watched season start for every network, according to a WNBA official release.
Record-high viewership is partly due to its star-studded rookies. Players like Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese attracted a large fan base. Even though Reese’s Sky didn’t make the playoffs and Clark’s Fever lost their quarter finals series, viewership remains high.
The Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces first-round Game 2 averaged 988,000 viewers on ESPN on Tuesday, according to Programming Insider, becoming the second most-watched WNBA playoff game since 2003.
Records were broken the following night with the Fever-Sun first-round Game 2 on ESPN, which attracted 2.5 million viewers, and was the most watched WNBA game ever on cable, according to Sports Illustrated.
The WNBA playoffs involve three rounds and begin with eight teams who had to maintain solid records to snag a spot in the playoffs. The New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx had the best records going into the postseason.
Round 1 concluded on Wednesday with the Lynx dominating the Mercury in their final game and the Connecticut Sun just barely passing the Indiana Fever, putting an end to guard Caitlin Clark’s astounding rookie season. Each team advancing to the semifinals swept their first-round series.
The reigning champions, the Las Vegas Aces, finished the regular season with a 27-13 record. They won nine out of the last ten games to secure the No. 4 seed after a poor start to the season. The unanimous 2024 MVP, A’ja Wilson, led the Aces in points, rebounds and blocks in both the regular season and the first round of the playoffs.
Going into the playoffs, the Liberty had the best regular-season record (32-8). Forward Breanna Stewart led the team in points, averaging around 20 points per game, with players like Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones helping New York capture the top seed in the playoffs.
The Aces and Liberty both dominated in Round 1 but will face more of a challenge when they meet each other in the semifinals. Last year, these two teams faced off in the championship where the Aces won the series 3-1. However, the Liberty beat the Aces all three times they met this regular season.
Siang Sama, a freshman nursing major at Towson University, has hope for the Aces, saying that despite their rough season, “they proved to society that they’re able to still come back even when they’re down.”
The Minnesota Lynx finished the 2024 regular season with a 30-10 record, standing as the No. 2 seed behind the Liberty. Napheesa Collier led the Lynx in points, rebounds and steals in the regular season and averaged 40 points in the first round of the playoffs.
With top scorers in DeWanna Bonner and Marina Mabrey, the Connecticut Sun entered the postseason with a 28-12 record. Power forward Alyssa Thomas is another key player who led the team in rebounds and assists in the regular season.
Each Lynx-Sun regular season matchup was a battle until the final minutes, with the series ending 2-1 in the Sun’s favor. The Lynx will have a home-court advantage, which could have a big impact on the results of the semifinals series.
Serenity Figgins is a sophomore public policy major who plays on the UMD women’s club basketball team. Figgins actively follows the WNBA and her favorite teams are the Mercury and the Aces.
“I’m just glad that women’s basketball is now starting to get the attention it deserves,” Figgins said. “There’s a lot more media coverage and more people are talking about it.”
The continued increase in viewing and support for women’s hoops instills hope in women’s basketball lovers who appreciate more people enjoying the sport.
“A lot of people are now recognizing that women’s basketball can be entertaining or even more entertaining than men’s basketball,” Sama added.
The WNBA semifinals kick off Sunday with four remaining teams ready to battle for a spot at the championship. The semifinals consists of two best-of-five series. The Aces will take on the Liberty at 3 p.m., followed by a battle between the Sun and the Lynx at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.