It may have been a short series, but the 2010 WNBA Finals held up reasonably well for ESPN2.
ESPN2 averaged a 0.36 U.S. rating and 516,000 viewers for its two-game coverage of the Storm/Dream WNBA Finals, down 5% in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year’s five-game Mercury/Fever series (0.38, 548,000), but up 57% and 63%, respectively, from the three-game Shock/Silver Stars series in 2008 (0.23, 316,000).
Including Sunday’s Game 1 on ABC, Storm/Dream averaged a 0.35 and approximately 494,000 viewers, down 8% and 10%, respectively, from last year.
Thursday’s Game 3 drew a 0.38 and 545,000 viewers, up 31% and 40%, respectively, from Mercury/Fever Game 3 last year (0.29, 389,000) and the most-viewed Game 3 of the WNBA Finals since 2007 (Shock/Mercury: 646,000). Last year’s Game 3 aired on a Sunday afternoon.
None of the WNBA Finals games rank as the most-viewed WNBA game of the season. That distinction goes to Storm/Mercury Game 2 on ABC, which drew 709,000 viewers.
To put the numbers in perspective, ESPN drew a 0.68 and 1.141 million viewers for the 2009 MLS Cup.
Ratings/Viewership For 2010 WNBA Finals (With Comparisons To 2009)
| Gm. # | 2010 | 2009 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Net | Rating | Viewers | Day | Net | Rating | Viewers | |
| 1 | Sun. | ABC |
0.33
|
450,000
|
Tue. | ESPN2 |
0.37
|
550,000
|
| 2 | Tue. | ESPN2 |
0.35
|
487,000
|
Thu. | ESPN2 |
0.35
|
—
|
| 3 | Thu. | ESPN2 |
0.38
|
516,000
|
Sun. | ESPN2 |
0.29
|
389,000
|
| 4 |
no game
|
Wed. | ESPN2 |
0.47
|
670,000
|
|||
| 5 | Fri. | ESPN2 |
0.41
|
656,000
|
||||
(ESPN)
