Caitlin Clark vs. Paige Bueckers match clocks record viewership for ABC

Fans showed up in person AND at home for this one
Dallas Wings v Indiana Fever
Dallas Wings v Indiana Fever | Michael Hickey/GettyImages

Caitlin Clark helped break yet another viewership record this week, and this time Paige Bueckers was right there with her. Sunday's match between the Fever and the Wings pulled in a massive 2.1 million viewers, making it the 4th-most watched game this season and the 4th-most watched WNBA game of all time for ABC.

Shattering viewership records isn't exactly new for Clark or the Fever. Despite the fact that Clark wasn't even on the court due to injury during the team's second match against the Sky of the season, the game still drew in a 1.92 million viewers — after their first pulled in 2.7 million.

That viewership feat was repeated days later when the Fever hosted the Liberty at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. That game brought in 2.2 million viewers for ABC, making it the third-most watched WNBA game of the season — and of all time — on the network.

Viewership impacts game attendance (and vice-versa)

These kinds of viewership numbers are still a dazzling reality for the WNBA, and the fact that they occur when Clark and the Fever are playing is a testament to the 23-year-old's enduring influence over the league and the people who watch it. While many predicted that Clark's absence from the court earlier this season (she has missed a combined 10 games due to injuries) would tank viewership across the board, fans have continued to show up and enjoy games with or without her.

The shift is evident in other ways, too. Game attendance across the country is up, both at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and all the way out in San Francisco, where the league's newest team sells out the Chase Center like it's easy. Other teams, like the Liberty and the Wings, have sold out their arenas this season.

The league's decision to air more games this season has also proven to be helpful in terms of bringing more fans to the floor, where that's literally bodies in seats or bodies at home. By the season's end, the Fever will have been featured in 41 nationally broadcast games (whether that's on ESPN, ABC, ION, CBS, Prime Video, or NBA TV) — and the team plays 44 games this year.

While the broadcast situation with the WNBA isn't exactly perfect (fans who sign up for WNBA League Pass still can't always access each game as it's being played live, and Ion isn't piped into a lot of people's homes), it's a far cry from the not-so-distant past. If Clark continues to be the motor that powers these types of numbers, the WNBA is in for years of record breaking games.