The rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese has driven WNBA viewership to never-before-seen heights.
He The Indiana Fever’s 91-83 victory over the Chicago Sky on Sunday was the league’s most-watched game in more than two decades, CBS announced Tuesday.
The highly anticipated matchup averaged 2.25 million viewers, a 225% increase over an average match last season.
Viewership peaked at 3 million households, making the matchup the most-watched match in 23 years.
It was also the most streamed WNBA game on Paramount+ in households, minutes and minutes of average viewership.
The Fever’s 91-83 victory over the Sky was the most-watched WNBA game in 23 years.
The rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese has propelled viewership to new heights.
Clark and Indiana emerged victorious again in their second meeting with the Sky this season, thanks to 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds from their rookie sensation.
However, the confrontation was overshadowed by an incident in the third quarter, when Reese hit Clark in the head as the Iowa alum was jumping toward the basket.
The ball had already clearly gone past the former LSU player, who continued to hit Clark in the head with her forearm.
ESPN insider Stephen A. Smith had no problem with WNBA officials giving Reese a flagrant 1 for her foul against Clark, however, he believes league officials have their eye on the Chicago star. .
“I’ll say this: It was a basketball play,” Smith said on ESPN’s First Take on Monday.
Reese was called for a flagrant foul on Clark during Sunday’s morning session in Indiana.
The pair’s rivalry dates back to college, specifically the 2023 NCAA women’s title game.
‘Yes, Angel Reese is right about that. But what they told her in terms of raising it to flagrant 1 is exactly what they would have done in the NBA as well… She may be upset about it, but it’s a blow to the head and that’s what they’re doing. in this day and age. The call is correct.’
Many commentators have attempted to draw comparisons between the Reese-Clark rivalry and Larry Bird’s long competition with Magic Johnson during the 1980s.
While both rivalries began in college (the 2023 NCAA women’s title game for Reese-Clark and the 1979 men’s championship for Magic-Bird) before continuing into the pros, Smith believes the comparison is a little exaggerated.
While Bird of the Celtics and Johnson of the Lakers were similar players, Reese is a gritty power forward and Clark is a developing shooting guard and distributor.
“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar isn’t competing with Larry Bird as much as Magic Johnson competed with Larry Bird,” Smith said, before offering the New York Liberty’s All-Star guard as a better rivalry for the Fever rookie.
“If (Sabrina) Ionescu and Caitlin Clark faced each other, that’s a rivalry I’m willing to keep because their games are similar.”
