The WNBA reached a new viewership milestone as a late-night cable game featuring Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever against the Los Angeles Sparks averaged 1.04 million viewers. The game, which aired on USA Network and CNBC, marked the first time in league history a WNBA game starting at 10 p.m. ET has drawn at least one million viewers on cable.
This viewership figure is particularly notable given the circumstances. The game aired on cable rather than a broadcast network, and it was a Wednesday night game, not a weekend showcase. Clark played limited minutes, scoring nine points in 16 appearances as she returned from a two-week absence due to a back injury. The Fever lost the game 106-92.
According to USA Sports PR, the Fever-Sparks game was the most-watched WNBA game on record for the USA Network, showing a 149% increase compared to the 2025 cable average. Before Clark's arrival, the WNBA had not seen a game average one million viewers in nearly 16 years. The last time a WNBA game surpassed one million viewers was in 2008 when Candace Parker's professional debut averaged 1.07 million viewers on ABC.
Clark's impact on WNBA ratings has been substantial throughout the season. Her opening-weekend game against the Dallas Wings on ABC drew 2.49 million viewers, making it the fourth-largest audience for the league since 2000. A subsequent game against the New York Liberty on CBS averaged 2.56 million viewers, the third-largest audience of any kind since 2000.
Even games without Clark have seen significant viewership increases when featuring the Indiana Fever. An Indiana game against the Las Vegas Aces on July 5, which Clark missed, averaged 1.55 million viewers on ESPN's "Women's Sports Sundays," then the highest cable or streaming WNBA audience of the season. This suggests that Clark has elevated the overall profile of her team and, by extension, the league, drawing national interest even in her absence.
Data indicates that Fever games without Clark continue to draw larger audiences than other WNBA matchups. For instance, the 1.55 million viewers for the Aces game exceeded the combined viewership of the two preceding "Women's Sports Sundays" games that did not feature the Fever. While the WNBA's overall viewership has increased, the most significant television numbers consistently involve games featuring Clark or the Indiana Fever.