The Indiana Fever’s first-round playoff loss to the Las Vegas Aces sparked plenty of hand-wringing about what Caitlin Clark’s early exit would mean for the WNBA and its ratings throughout the rest of the playoffs. But a closer look at the league’s ratings suggests that the panic might be overblown.
While viewership has dipped since the Fever were eliminated, one writer argues that the numbers are still holding up well, showing that Clark is “far from the only draw” in the league.
Fever Eliminated
There’s no question that Clark has been a ratings machine since entering the league. Her Fever pushed the Aces to a decisive Game 3 in the first round this postseason, and that winner-take-all game averaged 2.25 million viewers on USA Network.
Game 1 of the series also set a WNBA playoff audience record on ABC with 2.11 million viewers, while Game 2 drew a Prime Video record of 1.42 million.
Once the Fever were knocked out, many fans and pundits framed the loss as a blow to the league, with one headline weighing “the cost of a Fever elimination.”
‘Far from the only draw’
While Clark’s impact on the league is undeniable, Katie Lever of Awful Announcing isn’t buying the argument that she is the only draw or that Indiana’s elimination from the playoffs doomed the league.
“There’s no disputing that viewership drops after Indiana’s postseason exit. And who knows what audiences would look like if the Fever made a deep run. But the WNBA’s media landscape paints a complex picture, showing Clark is far from the only draw,” Lever wrote for Awful Announcing.
Lever pointed to the semifinals as an example. Game 1 between the Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty averaged 1.2 million viewers, the second-most-watched semifinal opener ever, while Game 1 between the Aces and Golden State Valkyries drew 1.12 million on NBC and Peacock.
“Viewer numbers are down, yes. But the numbers are still holding up,” Lever wrote.
She also noted that the league has thrived without Clark before. In 2024, the New York-Minnesota Finals drew 1.6 million viewers, the most in 25 years, despite the Fever going out in the first round.
Clark then played just 13 regular-season games in 2025 due to injuries and missed the playoffs entirely. Even so, the WNBA posted its most-watched regular season and postseason ever, and Game 1 of the Finals averaged 1.9 million viewers.
“It also shows that, while Clark opened the door for many WNBA fans, plenty of them stick around to catch the action, even when she’s gone,” Lever wrote.
In the end, Lever argued that the bigger question is how the league should define success, whether by “drawing an immense crowd of fickle fans tuning in to the Caitlin Clark Show” or by “attracting a smaller, yet significant, audience that wants to catch all the action and stick around year after year.”
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