The WNBA is booming. It’s part of a larger trend in women’s sports.
The WNBA’s new season is off to a meteoric start, in just one sign of the momentum women’s sports currently have.
In the first five WNBA games that have aired on ESPN, average viewership topped 1 million people and surpassed last year’s average by 226 percent, reports the AP’s Doug Feinberg. In-person audiences are up 14 percent compared to last year as well, Feinberg adds. And the league’s app downloads have similarly skyrocketed, growing 146 percent.
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When the audience comes, pay will increase. They never should have expected equal pay when their arenas were empty and no one watched the broadcasts.
Looks like a change may be coming.
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Good for them. I'm a little skeptical of big swings in viewership numbers, though. I've heard people talk about how the methodology for calculating it has been changing a lot in recent years.
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There has been a big push amongst broadcasters to promote women's sports. The PWHL did very well in its first year. Women's NCAA basketball tournament did well because of Caitlyn Clark and now WNBA is trending up and expanding. It will be interesting to see if it is sustainable.
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Cool. I'm not a big fan of basketball, is there any reasonable explanation for this change?
What makes you think this is a trend and not just a outlier/spike?
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Caitlin Clark... she went nuts the past two years in the NCAAs especially in March and made a lot of casual fans. I must admit I've been following her games and highlights. This class is particularly marketable when it comes to feminine looking women (Cameron Brink).. sad but no one wants to watch a bunch of women who look like large slow dudes.
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