2024 WNBA Draft draws 2.45 million viewers, shatters previous record

With notable names on the board, the anticipation was building for the 2024 WNBA Draft on Monday. The viewership numbers reflected that.

This year’s draft averaged nearly 2.45 million viewers on ESPN, according to Sports TV Ratings. It’s not only the first time the event topped 1 million viewers, but it also shattered the previous viewership record of 601,000 in 2004, The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch said.

For further perspective, the most-watched WNBA event came in 2000 when a New York Liberty vs. Houston Comets game averaged 2.74 million viewers. Compared to other drafts, the NBA Draft brought in 3.7 million viewers a year ago. The MLB and NHL both averaged less 750,000 viewers for their respective drafts.

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It was a record audience tuning in to not only see Caitlin Clark – at long last – go No. 1 overall to the Indiana Fever, but also watch how the rest of the board shook out.

Women’s basketball surged in popularity this year as Final Four ticket prices soared and viewership records fell multiple times. Clark was at the forefront of it all as she broke record after record during her senior season, but she was just one of the recognizable names in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Cameron Brink won the 2024 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award at Stanford before going to the Los Angeles Sparks at No. 2 overall in the WNBA Draft. Kamilla Cardoso was the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player as she led South Carolina to a 38-0 record and another title.

The Chicago Sky selected Cardoso with the No. 3 overall pick and added another notable name in Angel Reese at No. 7 overall. The former LSU star built an impressive social media following after leading the Tigers to a national championship in 2022-23. Now, she and Cardoso will build a dominant – and recognizable– frontcourt in Chicago.

Now, those stars will take on the WNBA, and ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo said they’re generating a league-wide buzz.

“Angel Reese has a massive following, Cameron Brink has a large following of people – whether it’s following them on social media or following them throughout the course of their college career,” Lobo said ahead of the draft. “We have women coming into the draft this year who people are very much aware of and eager to see how their game is going to translate at this level.

“And I don’t know if we have – even Caitlin aside, because of how NIL has changed things – I don’t know that we have seen an entire class that has this much attention off the floor that they are also going to bring to their on-court performance here in the W.”