(Bloomberg) — Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark’s first regular-season game as a professional basketball player drew an audience of 2.1 million viewers across three Walt Disney Co. outlets.
The game, which ran on the ESPN2 cable channel and the Disney+ and ESPN+ streaming services, was the most-watched WNBA game ever on ESPN platforms, the network said.
Clark ended the night with 20 points, but she also turned over the ball to the opposing team 10 times. The Fever lost to the Connecticut Sun, 92-71.
The Iowa native has been a ratings magnet since her college days, drawing 18.9 million viewers in the national championship game against South Carolina in April.
The 2024 WNBA draft class has already had an effect on the league. The WNBA announced that players will be flown to games in chartered planes, rather than commercial airliners.
The league is in the midst of negotiating a new media deal. Its current agreement brigs in about $60 million a year
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