There has been a lot of discussion about the impact that Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has had on the WNBA in her rookie season. While she is a megastar, she isn’t the only popular player who entered the league this season. Angel Reese also has a following of her own, and when they face off, great things happen for the WNBA.
The first and seventh overall picks in the 2024 WNBA Draft faced off for the second time as pros over the weekend. The Indiana Fever defeated the Chicago Sky 91-83 in a game that Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese were at the center of the discussion.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t for their overall performance. Instead, the headlines were about Angel Reese having a foul against Caitlin Clark, where contact was made with Clark’s head. Reese was assessed a Flagrant-1 foul, the second this season by a Sky player against the No. 1 overall pick.
In their first meeting, another Fever victory, Chennedy Carter hit Clark from behind on an inbound play. Originally, it was called a common foul and was not reviewed. But, the league reviewed it and upgraded it to a Flagrant-1 after.
That was a major storyline heading into the second matchup, seeing how things would unfold. Along with that, and two of the most recognizable stars facing off, resulted in some massive views for the WNBA.
As shared by ESPN, the game against the Fever and Sky was the most-watched WNBA contest in 23 years. The game averaged 2.25 million viewers, which was a 225 percent increase over a comparable game window from 2023 between the Phoenix Mercury and New York Liberty.
On Sunday, the second game between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese as pros peaked at 3 million viewers. Per ESPN “it most streamed WNBA game ever on Paramount+ across households, minutes and average minute audience.”
That kind of viewership and coverage just goes to show how big of star Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese truly are. The Fever and Sky are both under .500 this season, placing in the bottom half of the standings.
Fans of other sports aren’t tuning in and setting viewership records when two teams with losing records are facing off. People are invested in this rivalry, which goes back to college when Iowa and LSU faced off in NCAA Tournament games.
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