After a solid start to the season, the WNBA on ESPN2 faltered down the stretch.
ESPN2 averaged 258,000 viewers for regular season WNBA coverage during the 2010 season, down 4% from last year (269,000), but up 4% from 2008 (248,000). According to Sports Business Daily, this marks the second-most viewed WNBA season ever on ESPN2.
The first ten games on ESPN2 averaged 290,000 viewers, up 11% from last year. However, the remaining eight games averaged approximately 70,000 fewer viewers, with half of those eight dropping below 200,000. That includes Saturday’s Sparks/Storm regular season finale, which drew 161,000.
The top game of the season on ESPN2 was the season opening Sparks/Mercury matchup on May 15. That game drew 445,000 viewers — the only WNBA telecast this season to top 400,000 viewers. Two other games topped 300,000.
On the other end of the spectrum, the network’s smallest audience came for Sparks/Fever on July 22, which drew 151,000.
To put the numbers in perspective, the season-ending average of 258,000 viewers is slightly higher than the average viewership for Major League Soccer on ESPN2 (257,000 through August 17), but trails the NHL on Versus (297,000) and IndyCar Series on Versus (402,000 through August 8).
WNBA Viewership on ESPN2 Dating Back to 2006
(Sports Business Daily)
