With the arrival of Caitlin Clark, we expected a high-profile WNBA season, but no one imagined that the women's league would shatter all its popularity, audience, and statistical records! It's simply a unique season, and the young Fever guard wasn't the only one to break records or fill the halls.
First, on the broadcaster side, WNBA games averaged 1.2 million viewers on ESPN, a 170% increase over last season. On ION Television, the other broadcaster, games averaged 670,000 viewers, a 133% increase. In total, more than 23 million unique viewers watched WNBA on ION Television, and the number of men watching TV increased by 180%!
Still on the television side, the 2024 All-Star Game broke records with 3.4 million viewers. The previous record was 1.4 million…
Fever explodes average spectators
In the halls, the same records galore with a new record set by the Mystics on the last day: 20,711 spectators for the arrival of the Fever. It's obviously the Clark effect, and in Indianapolis, the franchise averaged 16,084 spectators. The old record dated back to 1998 with 13,398 spectators on average for the New York Liberty. Over the season, 37 games attracted more than 16,000 spectators, and 32 involved the Fever!
In terms of statistics, many records have been broken, and some are legendary, such as the most points, rebounds and assists in a season. We start with A'ja Wilsonwho could be unanimously elected MVP. The Aces' star center finished the season with 1,021 points, 451 rebounds and 98 blocks. That's simply three records in one season! The first player to reach 1,000 points in a campaign, she finished with an average of 26.9 points per game for the season, and erased Diana Taurasi's 25.3 points per game in 2006.
All the biggest records are falling!
For his part, Caitlin Clark seized two symbolic records: that of the number of assists in a game (19) and that of the number of assists in a season (337). She became the first player to finish a season with at least 19 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, and she signed 12 “double-doubles” with points and assists this season, and it is a record for a season. With two “triple-doubles”, she sets a record for a rookie. It's quite simple, before her, never had a rookie achieved a “triple-double”!
There is also Angel Reesethe one who is presented as his “sworn enemy”. The electric interior of the Chicago Sky unfortunately missed the last six games because of a broken wrist. Which did not prevent her from seizing the rebounding record with 13.1 grabs per game. With 26 “double-doubles” on the season, she sets a record for a rookie. We also remember her series of games with 20 rebounds or more, worthy of Wilt Chamberlain.
Among other records, we will remember that Tina Charles became number 1 in rebounds (4,014) and double-doubles (194). For his part, Arike Ogunbowale broke the record for playing time with 38.58 minutes on average. Last season, the Dallas star had already broken the record for minutes spent on the field (1,493).
