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For two years, one name has owned the WNBA, Caitlin Clark.
Viewership nearly tripled in a single season during her 2024 rookie year, averaging 1.32 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and CBS, up from a modest 462,000 the year prior.
Clark accounted for a reported 26.5% of all WNBA economic activity in 2024, including attendance, merchandise, and television.
And in 2025, even while sidelined for much of the season with injury, Clark’s gravity kept pulling fans in.
Fever games averaged 1.26 million viewers. Non-Fever games surged 37% year-over-year. The league’s foundation had been laid.
But with other new stars emerging, is Clark still the face of the league?”
On Sunday, May 24, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the Dallas Wings rolled into New York and dismantled the 2024 champion Liberty, 91-76, in a dominant performance.
Paige Bueckers dropped 24 points on 54% shooting. Her backcourt partner and fellow UConn teammate Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft, went off for a season-high 24 of her own, including a scorching 17-point third quarter in which she buried five consecutive 3-pointers.
The game aired on NBC and Peacock, and the viewers showed up.
The Wings-Liberty matchup reportedly averaged 1.3 million viewers, making it the second-most-watched game of the 2026 season, behind only the Wings-Fever opening weekend showdown on ABC (2.49 million, according to the WNBA).
Not a Caitlin Clark game. Not a Fever game. A Paige Bueckers game. On NBC.
More news: Caitlin Clark Gets Major Stephanie White Endorsement as Fever Keep Rolling
Bueckers is in her second season and is already a force of nature.
She’s averaging 19.3 points, 5.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds on an efficient 52.2% from the field and 48.3% from 3.
She was the 2025 Rookie of the Year. She’s the engine of a Dallas franchise that went from worst-in-the-league to legitimate title contender in a calendar year. And now she’s headlining the second-biggest TV audience of 2026, without Clark.
More news: LeBron James Return to Cleveland Could Set Up a Win-Win Blockbuster Trade
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – MAY 18: Paige Bueckers #5 of the Dallas Wings looks on during the second half against the Washington Mystics at College Park Center on May 18, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
More news: Cavaliers Make Kenny Atkinson Decision Less Than 24 Hours After Knicks Sweep
The WNBA’s $2.2 billion, 11-year media rights deal with NBC Sports was built on the promise that the league’s star power extends beyond any single player.
Sunday just proved it. Bueckers and Fudd are appointment television, and everybody now knows it.
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Viewership nearly tripled in a single season during her 2024 rookie year, averaging 1.32 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and CBS, up from a modest 462,000 the year prior.
Clark accounted for a reported 26.5% of all WNBA economic activity in 2024, including attendance, merchandise, and television.
And in 2025, even while sidelined for much of the season with injury, Clark’s gravity kept pulling fans in.
Fever games averaged 1.26 million viewers. Non-Fever games surged 37% year-over-year. The league’s foundation had been laid.
But with other new stars emerging, is Clark still the face of the league?”
On Sunday, May 24, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the Dallas Wings rolled into New York and dismantled the 2024 champion Liberty, 91-76, in a dominant performance.
Paige Bueckers dropped 24 points on 54% shooting. Her backcourt partner and fellow UConn teammate Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft, went off for a season-high 24 of her own, including a scorching 17-point third quarter in which she buried five consecutive 3-pointers.
The game aired on NBC and Peacock, and the viewers showed up.
The Wings-Liberty matchup reportedly averaged 1.3 million viewers, making it the second-most-watched game of the 2026 season, behind only the Wings-Fever opening weekend showdown on ABC (2.49 million, according to the WNBA).
Not a Caitlin Clark game. Not a Fever game. A Paige Bueckers game. On NBC.
More news: Caitlin Clark Gets Major Stephanie White Endorsement as Fever Keep Rolling
Bueckers is in her second season and is already a force of nature.
She’s averaging 19.3 points, 5.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds on an efficient 52.2% from the field and 48.3% from 3.
She was the 2025 Rookie of the Year. She’s the engine of a Dallas franchise that went from worst-in-the-league to legitimate title contender in a calendar year. And now she’s headlining the second-biggest TV audience of 2026, without Clark.
More news: LeBron James Return to Cleveland Could Set Up a Win-Win Blockbuster Trade
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – MAY 18: Paige Bueckers #5 of the Dallas Wings looks on during the second half against the Washington Mystics at College Park Center on May 18, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
More news: Cavaliers Make Kenny Atkinson Decision Less Than 24 Hours After Knicks Sweep
The WNBA’s $2.2 billion, 11-year media rights deal with NBC Sports was built on the promise that the league’s star power extends beyond any single player.
Sunday just proved it. Bueckers and Fudd are appointment television, and everybody now knows it.
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