The first round of the 2026 WNBA Playoffs averaged 1.3 million viewers across 10 games, making it the league’s most-watched opening playoff round, the WNBA said on Tuesday.
The three-game series between the Indiana Fever and Las Vegas Aces generated some of the largest audiences of the opening round, despite Fever star Caitlin Clark being sidelined.
Game 1 averaged 2.1 million viewers on ABC, making it the network’s most-watched WNBA playoff game, according to data cited by the New York Times sports vertical The Athletic. Game 2 averaged 1.42 million viewers as an exclusive on Prime Video.
The deciding Game 3 averaged 2.25 million viewers across USA Network and CNBC, peaking at 2.7 million viewers as the Aces eliminated the Fever and advanced to the semifinals.
The audience came despite the game airing opposite the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns “Thursday Night Football” matchup.
The first-round average represents a significant increase from recent WNBA postseasons. The opening round in 2024 averaged 944,000 viewers across 11 games.
The 2026 first round also surpassed the 1.1 million viewers averaged across eight WNBA postseason games on ESPN and ABC in 2024.
The Fever have been a major television draw since Clark entered the league in 2024. Her rookie-season playoff series against the Connecticut Sun included a Game 2 audience of 2.5 million viewers, one of the largest WNBA playoff audiences in recent years.
