The WNBA has seen a huge surge in viewership in recent years. While the NBA struggles with fluctuating ratings, the WNBA is on a steep upward trajectory. This is evident in its viewership, which has increased by over 170% from the previous year. What’s behind this explosive growth?
There could be several causes, but perhaps the biggest is the arrival of high-profile stars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and others who have drawn considerable attention to the league. With their highly successful college careers, they brought a massive fanbase into the WNBA, reshaping the league.
The bottom line is that the league is gaining popularity, and there’s no denying that more and more people are tuning in to watch WNBA matchups. Veteran coach Stephanie White, who took over the reins of the Indiana Fever in November 2024, has weighed in on what’s driving the WNBA’s rise and how past misconceptions about women’s sports have held it back.
Stephanie White Shares Her Thoughts on the WNBA’s Rising Popularity
White believes the WNBA has reached this moment because college fans are finally following their favorite players into the professional league. For years, there was a disconnect — fans loved women’s college basketball but didn’t carry that same passion into the WNBA. Now, that gap is closing.
“The league has blown up,” White told the Nashville Scene. “For a long time in the WNBA, we had not had the college fan follow their player to the WNBA and be as invested in their team as they were in college. The momentum has all come together in a way that those of us who have been here since the beginning felt like it should and knew that it eventually would.”
White also pointed out that the momentum behind women’s basketball has always been there, it just wasn’t properly nurtured. In her view, television networks and media outlets have played a role in suppressing the league’s potential due to outdated assumptions about a general lack of interest in women’s basketball.
“I feel like, for women’s basketball and women’s sports, it’s been self-sabotage by the [TV] networks because of preconceived notions that people don’t care about it,” White said. “It’s not true that people don’t care about it, and you can see that in the viewership.”
However, this misconception has been shattered in recent years. The New York Liberty successfully secured multi-year television partnerships with FOX5 and My9, leading to a 129% increase in viewership, reaching over 7.5 million homes across multiple states.
Clearly the WNBA is not fighting for relevance anymore. The numbers don’t lie, and as the Fever’s head coach emphasized, fans were always there — it’s the broader basketball community that is finally catching up.
