The NBA topped the night, but it was Caitlin Clark and the WNBA that made the most noise in the ratings on Tuesday, May 14.
Tuesday’s Pacers-Knicks second round NBA playoff Game 5 averaged a combined 4.88 million viewers across TNT (4.18M) and truTV (699K), down a fraction of a percent from Sixers-Celtics on the same night last year (4.88M) and the most-watched sporting event of the day.
Timberwolves-Nuggets placed second with a combined 4.51 million (TNT: truTV: ), down 6% from Suns-Nuggets a year ago (4.80M). Denver’s third-straight win was the first game of the series to decline and the first Timberwolves game to do so this postseason.
NBA playoff games were averaging 3.56 million viewers through Tuesday, down 11% from the same point last year’s playoffs (4.00M).
The main headline from Tuesday’s sports slate was the WNBA season opener between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun, which marked the professional debut of Caitlin Clark. An audience of 2.13 million viewers tuned in across ESPN2 (2.12M) and ESPN Deportes (13K) — a figure that includes ESPN+ and Disney+ television streams — the largest WNBA audience since 2001 and best-ever on cable. Additional information on that game can be found in the preceding link.
The WNBA game was the day’s top sportscast outside of the NBA Playoffs, outdrawing the competing Panthers-Bruins NHL Stanley Cup playoff Game 5 on ESPN. The NHL game still held its own in the ratings, averaging 1.99 million viewers — up 75% from Hurricanes-Devils last year (1.14M) and the fifth-largest audience of the playoffs.
Boston, which won Tuesday to extend its season, has played in three of the top five games, four of the top seven and five of the top nine.
The all-Canadian Canucks-Oilers nightcap averaged 989,000, down 21% from Kraken-Stars a year ago (1.26M). Stanley Cup playoff games were averaging 1.11 million viewers through Tuesday, up 11% from last year (1.00M).
Returning to the WNBA, Mercury-Aces followed Caitlin Clark’s debut with just 472,000 viewers (ESPN2: 464K; ESPND: 8K). That was still the third-largest audience for a WNBA game on ESPN2.
Further down the dial, a Manchester United-Tottenham English Premier League match averaged 504,000 across USA Network (434K) and Universo (70K) and a Yankees-Twins Major League Baseball game drew 308,000 on TBS — up a third from Cubs-Astros a year ago (231K). In other MLB action, a Phillies-Mets matinee drew 130,000 on MLB Network.
Not making the below chart, coverage of the NBA Draft Combine averaged 93,000 on ESPN2.
Tuesday, May 14 sports ratings
Updated chart:
Original chart below:
