Sports Ratings Tracker

Wednesday’s Tempo-Fever WNBA regular season game averaged 1.00 million viewers on USA Network, marking the largest audience for a WNBA game on cable or streaming this season.

Last Thursday’s Dream-Fever WNBA regular season game, the season’s first meeting between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, averaged 686,000 viewers on Prime Video — the most-watched game of the season on the streamer, but also the least-watched matchup of Clark and Reese (6 total games).

The collegiate rivals only played each other once last season, and four times the previous year. All of those games averaged at least one million.

The full Prime doubleheader averaged 545,000, and the streamer is averaging 446,000 for the season — up slightly from the average for games on linear cable this season (+1%).

As is typical for sports on streaming services, Prime is averaging a younger audience, with a median age of 55.6 — compared to 62.6 for the linear networks. (Note that NBC’s presumably younger-skewing streaming audience is not tracked by Nielsen.)

Amazon Prime Video averaged 549,000 viewers for its May 28 WNBA doubleheader, up considerably from the previous week — when coverage aired opposite the NBA conference finals (161K) — and also up from the streamer’s season debut May 14 (529K).

The doubleheader included Prime’s first Nielsen-rated game involving Caitlin Clark, as the Fever’s matchup against the Valkyries averaged 662,000.

The Fever-Valkyries game averaged 115,000 viewers among adults 18-34, the second-most watched game of the season on any network in that demo. (Note that NBC’s presumably younger-skewing streaming viewership is not tracked by Nielsen.)

Last Saturday’s Fever-Fire WNBA regular season game averaged a 0.8 rating and nearly 1.3 million viewers on CBS, marking the least-watched Fever game on the network since Caitlin Clark was drafted (six total), including two primetime games last season that she missed due to injury. (Note that the five previous games pit Indiana against the New York or Chicago, rather than expansion Portland.)

Keep in mind the game aired directly opposite Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on NBC, which averaged a combined audience of 15.9 million across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

Indiana’s loss, which saw Clark score a season-low six points, was still the most-watched of the three WNBA games on CBS this season. In the same primetime window a week earlier, Sparks-Aces averaged 1.05 million. Earlier that day, Sky-Lynx drew 1.01 million.

The game was also the most-watched of the weekend in the WNBA. NBC averaged 984,000 for Aces-Valkyries on Sunday afternoon across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

Last Thursday’s Thunder-Spurs NBA Western Conference Finals Game 6 averaged 11.59 million viewers on NBC across a Nielsen-measured linear audience (9.28M) and streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics (2.32M), marking the largest audience for a conference final Game 6 since Lakers-Kings on NBC in 2002 (16.64M).

Note that changes in Nielsen methodology skew comparisons to past years, particularly those prior to the company including out-of-home viewing in its estimates in 2020.

The Spurs’ series-tying win increased 43% from last year’s lone conference final Game 6, Knicks-Pacers on TNT Sports (8.12M). (NBC’s position is that because Nielsen does not track its streaming viewership, its combined Nielsen + Adobe audience figures are comparable to the Nielsen-only figures of other networks.)

Last weekend’s Wings-Liberty WNBA regular season game averaged 1.3 million viewers on NBC across a Nielsen-estimated linear audience (0.7 rating, 1.19M viewers) and a streaming audience tracked by Adobe Analytics — the second-largest audience of the season, behind Wings-Fever on ABC the opening Saturday of play.

On ION, regional action last Friday night featuring Valkyries-Fever averaged 1.09 million. Caitlin Clark and the Fever have played in the two most-watched games on ION this season, with the previous week’s Mystics-Fever game at 950,000.

In last Friday’s nightcap, Sun-Storm averaged 307,000.

Tuesday’s Spurs-Thunder NBA Western Conference Finals Game 5 averaged a combined 10.24 million viewers on NBC across a Nielsen-estimated linear audience (7.96M) and a streaming audience tracked by Adobe Analytics (2.28M), marking the largest audience for a Game 5 in the conference finals since Celtics-Heat on ESPN in 2012 (10.25M) and the most-watched Game 5 of the WCF since Lakers-Kings on NBC in 2002 (14.59M). It was the first conference final Game 5 on broadcast television since that 2002 postseason.

Note that changes in Nielsen methodology skew comparisons to past years, particularly those prior to the company including out-of-home viewing in its estimates in 2020.

Oklahoma City’s win more-than-doubled last year’s Timberwolves-Thunder Game 5 on ESPN (4.62M).

Through five games, the Western Conference Finals was averaging a combined 9.74 million viewers, still trending as the most-watched WCF on record through five games, and the highest five-game average for any conference final since Heat-Bulls in 2011 (10.41M).

Last Friday’s Thunder-Spurs NBA Western Conference Finals Game 3 averaged a combined 9.03 million viewers on NBC across a Nielsen-measured linear audience (7.03M) and a streaming audience tracked by Adobe Analytics (2.00M), officially ranking as the most-watched conference final Game 3 since Bulls-Heat on TNT in 2011 (10.89M) and the most-watched Game 3 of the West Finals since Kings-Lakers on NBC in 2002 (10.06M).

Oklahoma City’s win increased 72% from the Timberwolves’ 40-point rout of the Thunder on ABC last year (5.26M).

The Thunder-Spurs series was averaging 9.4 million viewers through three games (7.2M per Nielsen, plus 2.2M per adobe Analytics), the highest on record at this point of a Western Conference Finals. Note that changes in Nielsen methodology skew comparisons to past years, particularly those prior to the company including out-of-home viewing in its estimates in 2020.

The debut of Amazon Prime Video’s new WNBA package — Lynx-Wings and Liberty-Fire on May 14 — averaged 529,000 viewers. Prime aired WNBA games prior to this season, but those were simulcasts of local feeds and were not Nielsen-rated.

Compared to last year’s WNBA average on cable, viewership for the Prime doubleheader increased 26%, outside the range that would be explained by Nielsen methodological changes.

As is commonplace for sporting events on streaming services, the gains were particularly pronounced in the young adult demographics, with viewership up triple-digits in adults 18-34 (+156%), 18-49 (+147%) and 25-54 (+106%). Prime had a median age of 53.4 for its two games, compared to 62.3 for WNBA games on linear television last season.

Last Thursday’s Cavaliers-Knicks NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 2 averaged 7.1 million viewers on ESPN, officially the highest for a Game 2 of the East Finals since the LeBron James-era Cavaliers faced the Celtics in 2018 (8.42M).

The Knicks’ win increased 7% from Pacers-Knicks on TNT Sports last year (6.65M), within the margin that can be explained by Nielsen methodological changes of the past year.

In the network’s first WNBA telecast since 2002, NBC averaged 1.24 million viewers for last Saturday’s Aces-Dream WNBA regular season game across Nielsen (0.7 rating, 1.14M viewers) and Adobe Analytics.

Elsewhere, USA Network averaged 676,000 for Fever-Sparks a week ago Wednesday, preceded by Aces-Sun at 343,000. USA was averaging 518,000 for its first three WNBA games this season.

Tuesday’s Lakers-Thunder second round NBA playoff Game 1 averaged 6.8 million viewers on NBC across Nielsen (5.3M) and Adobe Analytics, up a third from a Nielsen-only 5.1 million for Warriors-Timberwolves on TNT an truTV last year.

The Thunder’s win, which peaked with 8.2 million, delivered the third-largest audience of the postseason thus far.

On Monday night, the Knicks’ Game 1 rout of the Sixers averaged 6.3 million (4.93M per Nielsen, plus Adobe Analytics) — up 28% from Knicks-Celtics on TNT Sports last year (4.88M).

Both nights, NBCU carried a second game that aired on Peacock and was not Nielsen-rated (Timberwolves-Spurs on Monday, Cavaliers-Pistons on Tuesday).

On Wednesday night, ESPN averaged 5.2 million for Sixers-Knicks Game 2 and 4.7 million for Timberwolves-Spurs Game 2 — up 13 and 24 percent respectively from last year’s equivalent TNT Sports doubleheader of Knicks-Celtics (4.6M) and Nuggets-Thunder (3.8M).

Monday’s Pistons-Magic first round NBA playoff Game 4 averaged a combined 5.4 million viewers on NBC across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, up 155% from a Nielsen-only audience of 2.1 million for a non-exclusive Cavaliers-Heat Game 4 on TNT Sports last year.

Viewership also increased 15% from Hawks-Knicks Game 2 in the same Monday night NBC window the prior week.

Later in the night, Timberwolves-Nuggets Game 5 averaged 3.9 million — actually down from Rockets-Warriors on TNT Sports last year (4.0M).

On Tuesday night, Hawks-Knicks Game 5 averaged 3.8 million on NBC, the most-watched game on a night that included a competing NBA doubleheader on ESPN. Last year’s closest equivalent window was Magic-Celtics on NBA TV, which was subject to local blackout and averaged 739,000.

The latest edition of NBC’s NBA “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” — Spurs-Celtics in most markets and Timberwolves-Lakers on the West Coast — averaged a combined 3.6 million viewers across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, marking a season-high for NBC’s Tuesday regional window.

The Tuesday night window included a live cut-in to Miami Heat C Bam Adebayo scoring the final points of his 83-point effort — the second-highest point total in NBA history — but figures for that portion of the telecast were not immediately available.

Lakers-Mavericks averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.6 million viewers in last week’s season premiere of ABC’s “NBA Saturday Primetime,” down from a 1.6 and 3.05 million for Warriors-Lakers last year.

Earlier in the night, Knicks-Sixers drew a 1.2 and 2.06 million, up from a 0.9 and 1.5 million for Nuggets-Timberwolves last year. ABC was slated to carry a tripleheader, but the middle game (Warriors-Timberwolves) was postponed.

In other recent NBA action, ESPN on Wednesday averaged 1.88 million for Lakers-Cavaliers and 1.54 million for Spurs-Rockets.

Numbers for the latest NBA on NBC “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” window were not immediately available, but the prior week’s January 20 slate — Spurs-Rockets in most markets and Lakers-Nuggets on the West Coast — drew a Nielsen-estimated 1.2 and 2.09 million. (Figures including Adobe Analytics, which measures NBC’s streaming viewership, were not immediately available.)

Spurs-Thunder was the most-watched game of the NBA’s five-game Christmas Day schedule with 6.71 million viewers across ABC and ESPN, making it the most-watched game in its midday Christmas window since Cavaliers-Warriors in 2017.

Knicks-Cavaliers led in with 6.37 million, marking the most-watched Noon ET game on Christmas. The previous high was 6.01 million for Spurs-Pistons on ABC in 2005.

Keep in mind that Nielsen did not track out-of-home viewing in its estimates until 2020 and did not do so in 100 percent of markets until earlier this year. In addition, Nielsen shifted to a “Big Data + Panel” methodology in September that adds data from smart TVs and set-top boxes to its traditional panel.

The full five-game Christmas average, plus figures for the remaining three games, will be posted when available.

Last week’s NBA “Coast to Coast Tuesday” slate — Magic-Sixers and Clippers-Lakers — averaged 2.7 million viewers on NBC and Peacock (across both Nielsen and Adobe Analytics), marking the largest group stage audience in the three years of the NBA Cup.

That comes with the caveat that no previous group stage telecast aired on broadcast television, much less in a regionalized format combining early and late windows. (Plus the standard caveats regarding Nielsen methodological changes.)

The following night, ESPN averaged 2.10 million for a Thanksgiving Eve tripleheader, up 54% from a doubleheader last year. Timberwolves-Thunder led the way with 2.43 million (+83%), followed by Rockets-Warriors at 2.03 million (+45%), with Pistons-Celtics leading off at 1.81 million.

Thursday’s ESPN NBA doubleheader averaged 2.07 million viewers, up 53% from the opening Thursday of last season on TNT. That is a bigger year-over-year increase than ESPN had for its season-opening doubleheader the previous night (2.33M, +44%).

While Nielsen this year has expanded its out-of-home viewing sample and shifted to a new “Big Data + Panel” methodology, those changes would not fully explain an increase of that size.

The overtime Nuggets-Warriors game led the way with 2.23 million viewers, up 79% from Thunder-Nuggets on TNT last year (1.25M). The double-overtime Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals rematch led in with 1.98 million, up 37% from last year’s Spurs-Mavericks game (1.45M). (Thunder-Pacers had the bigger peak audience, 2.66 million.)

Neither game hit a multi-year high, as Suns-Lakers drew 2.30 million and Sixers-Bucks 2.04 million on TNT the comparable night in 2023.

Tuesday’s Fever-Aces WNBA semifinal Game 2 averaged 1.7 million viewers on ESPN, marking the largest second round playoff audience since Comets-Sparks Game 2 on NBC in the 2000 Western Conference Finals, also the most-watched ever on the ESPN family of networks.

The previous second round high on ESPN was set by Game 1 of the series last Sunday, which drew 1.4 million.

For more on the second round numbers, see this article.

Tuesday’s Dream-Fever first round WNBA playoff Game 2 averaged 1.5 million viewers on ESPN, down 40% from Fever-Sun Game 2 last year, which featured Caitlin Clark (2.5M), but still the fifth-largest WNBA playoff audience since 2000. Viewership trailed only the two Fever-Sun games last year (Game 1 averaged 1.8M) and Games 4 and 5 of the WNBA Finals (1.7 and 2.2M respectively).

Game 1 of the series averaged 951,000 on ABC opposite NFL games last Sunday, down 48% from last year’s Fever-Sun Game 1.

As for the rest of the postseason games, Aces-Storm Game 2 ranks as the most-watched of the non-Fever games with 1.1 million Tuesday night. That followed the aforementioned Dream-Fever game. Viewership increased over Storm-Aces in the same Tuesday night window last year (988K), but that game did not have a lead-in from the Fever. (The equivalent post-Fever window last year was Mercury-Lynx on a Wednesday night, which drew 1.22 million.)

As with all sports viewership figures of late, keep in mind that Nielsen has introduced a new methodology (“Big Data + Panel”) that adds data from smart TVs and set-top boxes to the traditional panel. In addition, Nielsen expanded its out-of-home viewing measure to 100 percent of markets earlier this year, up from two-thirds previously.

WNBA games averaged 1.3 million viewers across ESPN and ABC during the 2025 regular season, up 6% from last year and the most-watched WNBA season ever on the ESPN networks. Keep in mind that the season average is based on the new Nielsen “Big Data + Panel” metric, which could potentially account for all of the year-over-year gain.

The ESPN networks accounted for eight of the ten most-watched WNBA games this season.

This year’s NBA Finals Game 7 averaged a 31.9 rating in Oklahoma City and a 25.1 in Indianapolis, according to TVB. Tulsa ranked third at a 20.8, with Chicago and Cleveland as the top neutral markets with a 10.9. San Antonio (10.5), Milwaukee (10.2) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (10.1) rounded out the top eight.

Nationally, the June 22 contest had 7.6 rating and 16.6 million viewers on ABC.

WNBA regular season games on CBS averaged 1.17 million viewers, up 6% from last year’s eight-game slate and the network’s most-watched season. The network’s season finale, Liberty-Dream on Saturday, averaged 595,000.

ABC averaged 1.43 million viewers for its 12-game schedule of regular season WNBA games, up 13% from an eight-game average of 1.26 million last season, and its most-watched regular season yet.

The double-digit increase over last year comes despite Fever G Caitlin Clark playing only three of her team’s five scheduled ABC games — but that still exceeded the two games she played on the network last season.

For more, see this article.

Regional WNBA action featuring Mystics-Fever in most markets averaged 1.04 million viewers on ION last Friday night, marking the fourth-largest audience of the season on the network. Viewership declined 15% from coverage featuring Mercury-Fever — and a healthy Caitlin Clark on the same night last year (1.22M).

The Fever have played in each of the top four ION games this season, with Clark missing three of those four — Friday’s game and Fever-Wings on August 1 and June 27 (both 1.14M). Clark’s lone appearance on ION ranks as the network’s top game this season, as 1.46 million watched the Fever host Atlanta on July 11.

Later in the night, Aces-Mercury averaged 517,000 — up 7% from Sun-Wings a year ago (485K). ION is averaging 622,000 viewers for WNBA games so far this season, down 3% from the same point last year 640K).