Which leads us here: The average NBA salary is about $7.5 million; according to the league, the average WNBA salary in 2019 was reportedly about $116,000, but a new collective bargaining agreement which runs from 2020 to 2027 provides a 53% pay increase, plus maternity leave at full salary, $5,000 for child care, and as much as $60,000 for adoption, surrogacy, egg freezing and fertility treatments. May 26, 2022. We want to hear from you. This year the WNBA celebrated its 25th season and with that came exponential viewership growth across multiple categories on ESPN networks. It has taken decades to overcome such backward thinking, and the womens games have been playing catch-up ever since. For example, according to 2019 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unionized female employees earn 29% more than non-unionized female employees and unionized black employees earn 27% more than non-unionized black employees. WNBA's ESPN viewership up 74% after five games of 2021 season Women's basketball league averaging 357,000 viewers across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. At the same time, the leagues digital footprint tells a slightly different story. That number was up 18% year over year, according to ESPN, despite the competition. Considering the circumstances, the WNBA will likely come away from its 2020 season content with the way it was able to connect with fans, especially from its Bubble in south Florida. We made the roster requirements . An NBA Draft . Felicien, who formally covered the Atlanta Dream for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has been encouraged by the increase in WNBA engagement heading into this season. 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. The 2022 No. "Level of interest in WNBA in the United States as of May 2022, by gender." Click the logo and sign up for access to the ESPN Images Library. Bill Laimbeer, a four-time NBA All-Star, was known as one of the Detroit Pistons' "Bad Boys" when they won NBA championships in 1989 . Every WNBA Player. The 2021 WNBA Finals on ESPN networks and ABC Chicago Sky victory over the Phoenix Mercury averaged 548,000 viewers across four games, a 23 percent increase from 2020 (447,000 average viewers in three games) and a 42 percent surge from 2019 (386,000 average viewers in five games). Add in the leagues partnership with CBS Sports Network as well as Facebook and Twitter, and nearly every game was televised for a national audience in 2020. I just really hope that this is the beginning and there's no backtracking. The 2023 World Baseball Classic, the first since 2017, will get underway on Tuesday, March 7. The 2019 NBA Finals had 27% fewer viewers this year, compared to last year (17.85M to 10.4M). Strong Regular Season Growth Show publisher information In 2021, viewership numbers dropped 12% to 331,000 average viewers but still yielded the second-largest viewership since the 2004 Draft (601,000 views). Liston 7 pts 2 reb 2 ast (gets back up minutes at 2/3 behind the starters and Wright 10-15 min) Hooper 7 pts 3 reb (backs up Powell, Hodges, TJJ, and GloJo at 3 and 4 for 15-20 minutes a night) Marshall 5 pts 3 reb 1 ast 1 stl (gets 10-15 minutes off bench behind Carson and Cappie at the 2 spot) Sims barely edges out Ogwumike for rookie of the . In essence Black males are the main supporters of the WNBA, yet Layshia Clarendon decided to focus her anger towards them. Will the recent increase in viewership and engagement provide the necessary proof of concept needed to propel the WNBA to the next level? On the surface, it appears that the women have little argument there is no comparison between NBA and WNBA revenues but first lets understand what WNBA players want. This represented the league's. Lets first take a look at the last two WNBA Drafts. The 2021 WNBA regular season averaged 306,000 viewers, a 49 percent increase over the 2020 regular season and up 24 percent over 2019. The athletes are your vehicles to their fans, if you can get the league and their athletes to retweet, reshare, comment or like your content, their fans will follow suit.. Access to this and all other statistics on 80,000 topics from, Show sources information The WNBA is an American professional women's basketball league established in 1996 and owned by the NBA. To use individual functions (e.g., mark statistics as favourites, set most-watched NCAA Tournament game in 10 years, WNBA Viewership & Ratings Growing In 2021, Fans prefer to attend Seattle Storm games on, During the WNBAs first season, the Phoenix Mercury had the highest a, In 2008 the Detroit Shock were the WNBA Champions. The 2021 WNBA regular season averaged 306,000 viewers, up 49 percent compared to 2020 and 24 percent to 2019, ESPN announced Thursday. At a time when sports continue to shed live viewers, the WNBAs numbers this year shows they still have not hit their ceiling. Stats say that 66% of WNBA viewers are actually male. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft Saturday, April 17, 2004, in Secaucus, N.J. 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August 17, 2022, League Sets Social, Digital and Merchandising Records , In Their Final Seasons, Sylvia Fowles First Player to Record 4,000 Rebounds in a Career; Sue Bird Records 1,000 Three-Pointers Made , The 2022 WNBA Playoffs Presented by Google Tips Off Wednesday, Aug. 17. The WNBA fails to generate even one percent of the NBA's $8-$9 billion in revenue. You can only download this statistic as a Premium user. WNBA basketball. So today, well take break down the leagues growth. I was beginning to question how the Las Vegas Aces could even afford the roster they currently have: 2022 All-WNBA First-Team and WNBA All-Star MVP Kelsey Plum, 2022 WNBA Champion and Finals MVP Chelsea Gray, 2020/2022 WNBA MVP and 2022 Defensive Player of the Year A'ja Wilson and, oh yeah, now Candace Parker, too. The WNBA capped off its historic 25thregular season by delivering its most-watched season since 2008 for its television partners ABC, CBS, ESPN and ESPN2 viewershipwas up 51% over the 2020 season. Game 2 (Oct. 13, ESPN) became the most-viewed Game 2 since 2003 and the most-viewed Finals game since 2017s Game 5. Im not going to rest till I fix that. said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. U.S. Bank joined the leagues growing lineup of WNBA Changemakers, which include AT&T, Deloitte, Nike, and Google. The best of the best: the portal for top lists & rankings: Strategy and business building for the data-driven economy: Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships). It was the first WNBA game post All-Star Game and Olympic break airing in the afternoon on ABC. Teams averaged more made three-point field goals (7.7) than in any prior season propelling teams to average 82.3 points per game, the third-highest figure in league history. That year, the minimum regular season attendance was on a Wednesday, with, The Miami Sols best highest attended regular season game was July 17, 2002 against the Sacramento Monarchs, with. That game averaged 755,000 viewers on ABC. TV viewership will be essential for Silver's league as it returns to a standard 82-game format. Dont just show up for the big moments because WNBA fans and their athletes know this. Shouldnt the league be able to stand on its own before it offers such rewards? As a Premium user you get access to background information and details about the release of this statistic. And the Las Vegas Aces, Connecticut Sun, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics, New York Liberty, and Atlanta Dream all were on a decline. Need Photos? The playoffs were the most-watched since 2014. For the 2021 season, the WNBA's combined viewership averaged 306,000 viewers across Disney networks (ABC, ESPN) and CBS Television Network. St. Louis was out shot by a total of 25-23 and went 2-3 on the power play in the win. Visit ESPN to view the Las Vegas Aces team stats for the 2022 season. The final game for that series averaged 570,000 viewers. More people. WNBA 2021 commercial guide: Every franchise, every sponsor, all the major TV deals. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. A Division of NBCUniversal. The 2022 WNBA Playoffs presented by Google tips off on Wednesday, Aug. 17, when the No. According to The Athletic, the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game peaked at 768,000 viewers. . And the 2021 WNBA Finals winners, the Chicago Sky, sold more merchandise on Fanatics since their WNBA title win over just two days than any other prior WNBA champ has sold in the first 30 days following a title victory. WNBA Draft 2022 presented by State Farm averaged 403,000 viewers on ESPN, up 20 percent over last year, making it the most watched WNBA Draft since 2004. Viewership increased 23% from last year's three-game sweep (Storm-Aces: 444K) and up 43% from the five-game Mystics-Sun series in 2019 (381K). It hasnt helped that womens sports came late to the game. @megsterr. According to Statista, the average TV viewers of the WNBA regular season in 2016 was 224,000 and grew to 246,000 in 2019. The Sky won their first WNBA championship after beating the Mercury 80-74. This season included 11 windows on broadcast television (ABC + CBS), the league's most in a season since at least two decades (NBC carried 10 in 2001 and 2002). Yet that unfortunately was the same night the Clippers lost Game 7 to the underdog Denver Nuggets on ESPN, which earned 5.2 million viewers, a very strong number for the NBA pre-conference finals, Lewis said. The first round will be the best-of-three, while the semifinals and Finals will be best-of-five series. In that year, the WNBA averaged 413,000 viewers. New York Libertys Sabrina Ionescu became the first WNBA player to eclipse 500 points, 200 rebounds and 200 assists in a single season. Take the Orange Hoodie campaign in which the league partnered with ESPN and athletes across sport to push its signature orange logo hoodie, sold by Fanatics, as well as general excitement in the lead-up to its opening weekend in late July. Atlanta Dream Team Store; . Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Kelsey Plum, a star player in the WNBA (ever heard of her? You only have access to basic statistics. Got a confidential news tip? Which was a drop of 16% on the previous year. ESPN said on Thursday that the WNBA Finals averaged about 548,000 viewers per game, up 23% from last season and up 42% from 2019. The showdown between UConn and Baylor in the Elite Eight round was themost-watched NCAA Tournament game in 10 years, excluding Final Four matchups, reported Forbes. Kena Krutsinger | National Basketball Association | Getty Images, What it takes to become an Olympic gold medalist. . A WNBA roster has a maximum of 12 players, whereas an NBA roster has a maximum of 15 players and a minimum of 12. Across 17 games, the 2021 playoffs averaged 367,000 viewers, 63 per cent higher than the entire 2020 postseason (226,000 average viewers) and 42 per cent higher than 2019 (258,000 average. Minnesota Lynxs Sylvia Fowles, in the final game of her illustrious career, became the first player in league history to log 4,000 career rebounds and Seattle Storms Sue Bird scored her 1,000. Register in seconds and access exclusive features. I would imagine a majority of people who watch the WNBA are people who watch the NBA, so its going to be a very difficult thing to build an audience when, even if you like (both leagues) equally, youre stepping on a Game 7 and thats going to take precedence, Lewis added. The workplace benefits historically marginalized groups enjoy from unionization are well-documented. In terms of how team attendance was trending prior to the pandemic, the Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, and Los Angeles Sparks had regular season attendance averages that were trending up over the previous three years (2017, 2018, 2019). So while television ratings were down 16 percent in the regular season, the league was pleased to simply be on more screens and in more minds during a blitz of sports in the late summer. Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company. VIEWERSHIP: Combined viewership for the WNBA across ESPN Networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2) and the CBS Television Network was up 16 percent over the 2021 regular season, averaging 379,000. The highest average was the Phoenix Mercury with 5,849 and the lowest was the Los Angeles Sparks with 1,144. WHAT a @WNBA season State of League . The 2021 Finals are the most viewed since the 2017 Finals between the LA Sparks and the Minnesota Lynx, which registered 563,000 viewers. Revenues, of course, are not to be confused with profits. You cant ask for anything better than to have a 15% increase (for the Finals) when the NBA Finals is down 49%, John Lewis of Paulsen Sports Media Watch said. The ratings also represent a 63 percent increase from those in 2020. 5 seeded Washington Mystics and the 2022 WNBA leader in assists Natasha Cloud meet the fourth seeded Seattle Storm and the leagues leader in scoring Breanna Stewart on ESPN2 at 10 p.m. NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2021 - The WNBA capped off its historic 25 th regular season by delivering its most-watched season since 2008 for its television partners - ABC, CBS, ESPN and ESPN2 - with. Amidst an unprecedented season in the NBA . Here's the "Sunday Night Football" viewership so far this season: Week 1: Bears-Rams, 17.64 million Week 2: Chiefs-Ravens, 19.81 million Week 3: Packers-49ers, 19.69 million Week 4:. The WNBA's Covid-disrupted 2020 regular season averaged 205,000 viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. It might not be fair, but it is reality. ESPN added 13 games to their 2020 broadcast slate after their opening weekend broadcast was up. Despite being virtual as opposed to broadcast live from Nike Headquarters in New York City they are the two most-viewed WNBA Drafts in nearly 20 years. Interest in womens basketball is on the rise. That would have been a perfect thing for them to have. Half of that 66% are Black males despite the fact that black men make up around 7% of the US population as a whole. Plum notes the difference in narratives between the two leagues. Well reveal WNBA viewership by year. The Women's National Basketball Association concluded its 25th anniversary season with another positive sign for viewership for its championship series. Would you be willing to send a $5 tip to our Venmo tip jar because it helps support our reporting? Back in 2020, the WNBA and the Womens National Basketball Players Association signed a landmark collective bargaining agreement. Overall, WNBA ratings were down, but the Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and the Seattle Storm were up 15% from the 2019 five-game series between the Aces and the Washington Mystics the year prior. The womens league now has a commissioner, Cathy Engelbert. Chart. The network said Game 3 was the most-watched, with an average of 524,000 viewers. Saturdays inaugural fixture on the streaming service saw the Atlanta Dream secure a thrilling 90-87 win over the New York Liberty in overtime. This will also be the first time since 2015 the tournament has been played outside Indianapolis, making its inaugural appearance in Minneapolis at the Target Center, home of the four-time WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx and the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves. The WNBA also welcomed Google as its newest WNBA Changemaker, joining AT&T, Deloitte and Nike and the tech company sponsored 25 games on ESPN as part of the partnership. The game took place on a weekday on ESPN (rather than ESPN2) and had no football or NBA competition. The latter doesnt produce the same revenues or interest as the mens game (quick, name five of the best LPGA players). The drop of new jerseys alone yielded over 69 million impressions on drop day. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. . This season represented the first time the Sky were represented in the top team merchandise rankings since 2016 thats the Candace Parker effect! ESPN added 13 games to their 2020 broadcast slate after their opening weekend broadcast was up 20% year-over-year. Few basketball fans were tuned in to see Peddys shot. She listed a few more stats that she said she loved, including a record 83.1 points per game and a 30% increase in cross-platform action for social media posts. Use Ask Statista Research Service. Later in the season, the league also delivered its most-watched regular-season game since 2012, with ABC averaging 755,000 viewers for a matchup between the Seattle Storm and Chicago Sky on Aug. 15. And Buzzer began featuring live content and WNBA League Pass games on its mobile platform in the companys first foray into womens professional sports. The top two seeds the No. Viewership across its national television partners ABC, CBS, ESPN, and ESPN2 was up 16 percent over the 2021 season. In particular, the deciding Game 3 of the Finals fit perfectly the formula that Lewis has observed tends to serve up the best ratings for the league. And that's across the league's four television-network partners ABC, ESPN, NBA TV, TNT and the highest average since the NBA's 2013-14 season. Our data would show we have about 30 million fans who interact with WNBA content in any given year. More people tuned into the biggest WNBA games this year, even with many more options than usual. As part of the agreement, the league established a new platform, WNBA Changemakers, to attract corporate investment in the league. statistic alerts) please log in with your personal account. The league started the 25th season by introducing its new official game ball by Wilson Sporting Goods through a new multiyear global partnership. The NBA watched the NFL capture an eleven-year deal worth more than $100 billion deal last summer. The four-round WNBA postseason features the eight teams with the best regular-season records. Currently, you are using a shared account. LPGA golfers face the same challenge. The BarDown podcast will investigate, uncover and explore long-form stories at the intersection of sports . 4 Seattle Storm received a bye into the second round. The league also reached several milestones including new sponsors, merchandise, distribution, and technology. Plus, we discuss some fun attendance facts that might surprise you, and what led to 69 million social media impressions for the league this year. Additionally, the WNBA saw an increase in the opening weekend and postseason viewership last season while it alongside the NBA return to play, the NWSL Challenge Cup, and the NHL return to play. The 2019 NBA Finals averaged a little more than 20 million viewers per game; the 2019 WNBA Finals averaged about 400,000 viewers per game. ET, before the No. In particular, the three stars of this years WNBA Finals Aja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird represented a clear top three in terms of social value, which Zoomph estimates based on the digital engagements and impressions these athletes generate relative to the approximate advertising costs on social media platforms.
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