The recently completed WNBA Finals was a weak television draw on ESPN2.
The three-game Lynx/Dream WNBA Finals averaged a 0.2 U.S. rating and 345,000 viewers on ESPN and ESPN2, the league’s least-viewed championship series since Shock/Silver Stars in 2008 (316K).
Compared to the 2011 WNBA Finals, which also pitted the Lynx against the Dream, viewership declined by a third (515K to 345K).
The clinching Game 3 of the series drew a 0.2 U.S. rating and 321,000 viewers on ESPN2 October 10, the smallest audience of the series. Game 2 on October 8 had a 0.2 and 328,000 viewers on ESPN2, while Game 1 on October 6 earned a 0.3 and 391,000 on ESPN.
Games 2 and 3 rank as the least-viewed WNBA Finals games since 2008.
For some perspective, no game of the Lynx/Dream series could match Brittney Griner‘s WNBA debut in May (455K, ESPN2). The league’s top broadcast of 2013 was the All-Star Game in July, which earned 791,000 viewers on ABC.
Contributing to the lower numbers was the uncompetitive nature of the series. The Dream — swept in the finals for the third time in four years — were blown out by 25 points in both Games 1 and 2.
(Avg. viewership from ESPN; individual game numbers from Son of the Bronx [1], [2])
