With Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark making her return from injury on June 14 against the New York Liberty, the contest drew the third-most viewership of any WNBA matchup ever aired on ABC, with an average of 2.2 million watching and a peak audience of 2.8 million, according to ESPN.
While the mid-afternoon 2 p.m. start did help the contest avoid competing with most other competing sporting events, Clark’s 32-point performance in her return was most likely the biggest reason for the enormous viewership. The former Hawkeye dazzled against the league-leading Liberty by shooting 11-for-20 from the floor, 7-for-14 from 3-point territory, and 3-for-5 from the free-throw line in just 31 minutes.
During Clark’s five-game absence with a left quadriceps strain, the league-wide viewership numbers took a massive hit as the iconic Hawkeye legend was not involved in the action.
According to Nielsen, the nationally televised WNBA viewership dropped 55% and the Fever’s national TV audience dipped 53% during Clark’s injury absence.
While the league has tried to push the narrative that Clark is not the only reason why last season’s overall viewership skyrocketed to record heights, clearly the negative numbers show while the Fever guard was injured paints a different picture.
Indiana’s next game will have them travel to Chase Center in San Francisco, California, to take on Kate Martin and the Golden State Valkyries for the first time. That contest will begin at 9 p.m. CT on Thursday and streamed on Prime Video.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Indiana Fever vs New York Liberty game draws near-record viewership
Reporting by Scout Springgate, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
