Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese rivalry has huge | NBA News

TV viewing figures have been launched for the 2024 WNBA season and the impression of the rookie rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese is evident for all to see.

Clark was the primary total decide on this 12 months’s draft and she has loved a sensational rookie season with Indiana Fever. Reese, who was picked seventh by Chicago Sky, has additionally impressed with an average of over 13 factors and 13 rebounds per sport.

The league’s two new superstars have helped WNBA viewing figures soar. The common season averaged 1.2million viewers, which is a monumental 170-per-cent soar on final 12 months’s figures.

The two most-watched WNBA video games ever on American TV channel ABC, and the most-watched ever on ESPN2, each featured Clark’s Fever. The WNBA finals additionally loved a important increase in viewership from 2023.

Games three, 4 and 5 between New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx have been watched by file cable audiences, because the finals on the entire averaged 1.6m viewers – a 115-per-cent increase on final 12 months and the biggest determine for a quarter of a century.

The significance of Clark and Reese, who have been much-hyped in faculty earlier than transferring their expertise to the WNBA, is evidenced by the truth that the WNBA battle between Clark’s Fever and Reese’s Sky was the most-watched sport of your entire season with 2.3m viewers.

Furthermore, the draft itself drew in 2.4m viewers, which is an extraordinary 328-per-cent increase on 2023. WNBA gamers have sought to construct on the league’s rise in recognition by opting out of their collective bargaining settlement (CBA) with the league and demanding more beneficial phrases.

Players’ Association president Nneka Ogwumike mentioned: “This is a defining moment, not just for the WNBA, but for all of us who believe in progress. The world has evolved since [the CBA was reached in] 2020, and we cannot afford to stand still.

“If we keep within the present settlement, we fall behind. Opting out is not nearly greater paychecks, it is about claiming our rightful share of the business we have constructed, bettering working circumstances, and securing a future the place the success we create advantages immediately’s gamers and the generations to come back.”

Back in July, Ogwumike said: “With this surge of consideration, accessibility, visibility and, of course, investment in {dollars}, essentially the most urgent factor to think about proper now’s how we use these {dollars} to proceed to grow and additionally worth the gamers, and seeing what that appears like in what appears like a very transformational period in our league.”