The ratings for the WNBA Finals gave the much maligned league a rare piece of good news, but how much progress has really been made?
The deciding Game 5 of the 2009 WNBA Finals drew a 0.41 U.S. rating and 656,000 viewers on ESPN2 Friday night, off slightly from a 0.47 and 670,000 for Game 4 of the series on Wednesday night. Game 5 drew the third-most viewers for a WNBA game this season, behind the aforementioned Game 4 and Shock/Sparks on ABC in June (804,000 viewers).
The Mercury’s championship-clinching victory drew a 2.7 rating in Phoenix, the highest rating ever in the market for a WNBA game on the ESPN family of networks. In Indianapolis, Game 5 drew a 5.2 rating — down from a 6.4 for Game 4.
The 5-game Mercury/Fever series averaged a 0.38 U.S. rating and 548,000 viewers on ESPN2, up 65% and 73%, respectively, from a 0.23 and 316,000 for last year’s three-game Shock/Silver Stars series.
Overall, the 2009 WNBA Playoffs averaged a 0.31 U.S. rating and 435,000 viewers on ESPN2 (13 games), up 55% and 54%, respectively, from a 0.20 and 282,000 last year.
So where does the WNBA stand? On one hand, the WNBA Finals averaged more viewers than the ’09 Tour de France on Versus (530,000). Additionally, the WNBA Playoffs on ESPN2 narrowed the percentage gap with the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Versus from 143% in ’08 (656,000 for the NHL to 282,000 for the WNBA) to 102% in ’09 (879,000 for the NHL to 435,000 for the WNBA).
That being said, the league is far from a ratings powerhouse. For example, the WNBA Finals’ top performance in households (Game 4 — 541,000 HHs) was lower than even the Cornell/Syracuse NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Final earlier this year (575,000 HHs). The series high 670,000 viewers for Game 4 has been topped by many unheralded events this year — from the final of the World Cup of Softball on ESPN2 (797,000) to the final round of the LPGA Solheim Cup on The Golf Channel (956,000).
Additionally, while the increases for the WNBA Finals were impressive, keep in mind that the numbers for last year’s Shock/Silver Stars series were unusually bad. Compared to the 2007 WNBA Finals — a 5-game series between the Mercury and Shock — this year’s series was up only 1% in viewership. In other words, the growth for the WNBA Finals was almost entirely due to the terrible numbers from last year.
In conclusion, the WNBA may be on the right track. But the league still has a ways to go towards becoming a respectable television draw.
Ratings and viewership for the 2009 WNBA Finals
| Date | Game | Net | Rating | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue., 9/28/09 | Fever/Mercury Game 1 | ESPN2 |
0.37
|
550,000
|
| Thu., 10/1/09 | Fever/Mercury Game 2 | ESPN2 |
0.35
|
n/a
|
| Sun., 10/4/09 | Mercury/Fever Game 3 | ESPN2 |
0.29
|
389,000
|
| Wed., 10/7/09 | Mercury/Fever Game 4 | ESPN2 |
0.47
|
670,000
|
| Fri., 10/9/09 | Fever/Mercury Game 5 | ESPN2 |
0.41
|
656,000
|
|
Average
|
0.38
|
548,000
|
||
Sources: ESPN, WNBA, Multichannel News
