Indiana Fever add another national TV appearance: now 37 of 40 games
Indiana Fever add another national TV appearance: now 37 of 40 games
The Fever's game in Chicago on June 23rd will now air on ESPN; and NBA TV will show Wings at Fever.
The Indiana Fever continue to be red-hot, at least when it comes to business.
Record TV ratings, unprecedented attendance numbers and immeasurable attention across social media.
Despite their 2-9 start to the season, the Fever will be appearing on national TV even more often. ESPN has flexed Fever at Chicago Sky on Sunday, June 23rd. And it will now be played at 6 p.m. ET. (It was originally scheduled to air on NBA TV.)
When the Fever edged the Sky 71-70 last Saturday, it garnered an average of 1.53 million viewers on ESPN, making it the most-viewed program on cable TV that day. And so far, ESPN said its WNBA viewership is up 346% from last year.
“We’ve only done Indiana games so far, so the buzz we’ve felt in every arena we’ve been in has been incredible,” ESPN’s lead game analyst Rebecca Lobo said with a big smile
And already, five different networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ION, NBA TV) have recorded their highest-rated telecast in the history of the WNBA.
“We feel it, we see it,” Lobo continued, “and especially because we've been at so many of these Caitlin (Clark) games, you definitely feel that energy, even though a number of them have been on the road.”
Additionally, the Wings at Fever game all the way in September (the 15th) will now air on NBA TV. (It was only scheduled to air regionally in Dallas and locally in Indy.)
That means the Fever’s record-setting number of national TV increases again — to 37 of 40 games this season.
Last season, 25 of their games were available nationally. But just once on ESPN and three times on Twitter. Even more, eight of their games were only available on the team's Facebook page.
Now, all but three games. And that may change again before the season is over.
That’s how much Caitlin Clark continues to move the needle — locally and nationally.
