Getting prime exposure on regular ESPN, the second game of the 2012 WNBA Finals earned the largest audience in nearly a decade.
Game 2 of the Fever/Lynx WNBA Finals drew 778,000 viewers on ESPN Wednesday night, up 74% from Dream/Lynx Game 2 on ESPN2 last year (447K), and up 60% from Dream/Storm Game 2 on ESPN2 in 2010 (487K).
The game peaked with 1.011 million viewers from 9:15-9:30 PM ET.
Wednesday’s game earned the largest audience for any WNBA Finals game since Game 4 of the 2006 Shock/Monarchs series on ESPN2 (793K).
In addition, Game 2 attracted the largest audience for any WNBA playoff game on ESPN — which televises far fewer games than ESPN2 — since Game 3 of the Comets/Sparks Western Conference Finals in 1999 (1.052M).
On Sunday night, Fever/Lynx Game 1 drew a much less impressive 343,000 viewers on ESPN2 — down 30% from last year’s Game 1 on ESPN (491K), and down 24% from Game 1 of the 2010 series on ABC (450K).
CORRECTION 10/25/12: Game 2 was the most-viewed WNBA Finals game since Shock/Monarchs Game 4 in 2006, not Sun/Monarchs Game 3 in 2005.
(Wednesday’s numbers from WNBA.com; Sunday’s numbers from Son of the Bronx)
