The 2024 WNBA season was one for the ages. The league generated its highest viewership since its conception and created an awareness for the women’s game that was absent in previous seasons. With two of college’s most popular players ever entering the WNBA (Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese), fans were intrigued to see their game transition over into the professional ranks.
Fast-forward to 2025, the ratings have plummeted by over 50 percent, with many contributing factors playing a prominent role.
WNBA ratings are down over 50% and Indiana Fever games are down 53% with Caitlin Clark out
(via @nypost) pic.twitter.com/eME9ML0Tx9
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) June 12, 2025
The WNBA is working through some growing pains with its expanded audience
Scheduling has been an issue for the WNBA in this early season. The league has 13 teams and each team has 40 regular season games. Some nights there are five games playing and other nights there is not a single matchup on the schedule.
Customers who have subscriptions to WNBA League Pass will still run into issues with games being available for viewing because of particular networks and streaming apps showing the matchup. On June 11, there were three games all scheduled at 9 p.m. which forced many fans to choose one particular matchup to view that evening. Accessibility and visibility are important factors while still trying to grow this league.
This current season has been filled with injuries for some of the league’s most prominent stars. Caitlyn Clark has missed five games due to a quad strain, causing the viewership of Indiana Fever games to drop 53 percent. The first overall pick of the draft, Paige Bueckers, has also missed four games in the early going. Four-time WNBA All-Star Kahleah Copper has yet to play a game this season due to arthroscopic knee surgery.
It’s tough to draw in new and reoccurring viewers when the best product is not on the floor. The WNBA is still a very young league and new fans are more intrigued with seeing a particular player perform rather than see the league in its entirety develop.
Overall, the WNBA season has been phenomenal. There have been four games that have come down to the last shot already and tons of competitive output from rookies looking to make a name for themselves.
We currently live in times where the storylines and narratives are more important than the gameplay. Maybe the storyline is this league still plays team-oriented basketball and these women can shoot the leather off the Spalding. Maybe people should tune in to see if the New York Liberty could possibly go undefeated.
Ratings will always fluctuate, but the quality of the WNBA game won’t.
