The 2024 WNBA All-Star game this past Saturday shattered the record for the most-watched WNBA game ever. Team WNBA’s 117-109 win over Team USA averaged 3.4 million viewers on ABC. This continues an outstanding regular season with high TV ratings and game attendance.
This year’s all-star game format was different than in years past. Since the Olympics are later this month, the WNBA had Team USA play the rest of the league’s top stars. It is quite shocking that Team USA was not able to get the win, even if it was just an exhibition game. The league will now have a break until August 20th, after the Olympics are over.
This year’s game featured superstars like Breanna Stewart, Arike Ogunbowale, Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu, A’ja Wilson, and more. For players like Clark and the other Americans on Team WNBA, this game may have been a little personal as they were not selected to play for the United States in the Paris Olympics.
All-Star Game Breaks WNBA TV Viewing Record
2024 has been an incredible year for TV numbers of Women’s basketball. April’s National Championship game between Iowa and South Carolina drew 18 million viewers, which was higher than any other men’s basketball game. This includes the NBA Finals and Men’s National Title Game between Purdue and Uconn.
This has also been the most watched and highest attended WNBA regular season in league history. The previous high for all-star game TV ratings was 1.44 million back in 2003. In addition to the most watched all star game, it was the most watched game overall in league history. The league is trending in the right direction.
Team USA Upset
Team USA are massive favorites to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Losing to Team WNBA doesn’t mean that they won’t still win it. However, questions will now be raised if the right players are on the team.
Arike Ogunbowale led the way for Team WNBA with 34 points, Angel Reese added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Caitlin Clark dished out ten assists. Team USA was led by Breanna Stewart’s 31 points and ten rebounds. USA also got contributions with 22 points from A’ja Wilson and 14 from Diana Taurasi. In the end, that was not enough to come out on top.
Team USA will start their Olympic gold medal defense when they take on Japan on July 29th. As of now, they are head and shoulders above any other challenger. The next teams closest to the USA, according to sports books, are Australia and Spain.
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese Team Up
Arguably the biggest headline coming into the WNBA All-Star Game was that Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese would be teaming up after all their battles dating back to college. Each player claims that they don’t dislike each other. They both have a competitive fire and it has fueled a rivalry that people will tune in to.
Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes and Reese’s LSU Tigers met in the 2023 National Championship game. Reese and the Tigers dominated, winning the national title. In the 2024 NCAA Tournament, they faced off again in the Elite Eight. This time, Clark and the Hawkeyes got revenge on Reese’s Tigers, and won handily. Caitlin Clark was selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever while Reese was picked No. 7 overall pick by the Chicago Sky. Each are in the thick of the race for Rookie of the Year. It was exciting to see them play together for once.
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