Ogunbowale ended up on Ellen. That number spiked to 5.2 million in the final 15 minutes when Ogunbowale hit the buzzer-beating championship-winner, capping the biggest comeback in championship game history. "Damn, she's actually right. 2019 the regular season WNBA viewership across ESPN and ABC networks averaged a combined 246,000 viewers. It was Oregon. Yet, the ratings are up and there must be a reason. I produced the ESPN Films "30 for 30" "Catholics vs Convicts" and "The Last Days of Knight" as well as the New York Times Critics Pick "Plimpton!" 2018 regular season viewership across ESPN and ABC increased 35% over 2017 to 231,000. He knows there are others who have covered the game longer and have a great depth of knowledge on it. The WNBA held its 15th All-Star Game on Saturday June 28th (in Minnesota) and unlike the 2018 MLB (-6% YoY), NBA (-1% YoY) and NHL (-10% YoY) All-Star Games, viewership increased +17% YoY (to 709,000 viewers); making it the … I should be paying attention. The result was the second-best viewership of the entire season, with 579,000 fans tuning in. In part, because they broadcast across the globe. "I watch the NBA, basketball is basketball." The telecast, which saw Oregon G Sabrina Ionescu picked #1 by the New York Liberty, ranks as the most-watched WNBA Draft since 2014, when Chiney Ogwumike was taken first … The season is averaging 266,300 viewers. The season is averaging 266,300 viewers. Plus, the championship aired around dinner time on Easter Sunday. Through June, WNBA games on ESPN2 are averaging 250,000 viewers, a 39 percent improvement from last year and the best start for the league since 2013. Maya Moore (David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). Then she tweeted back and forth with Bryant . Serrano is an interesting case study on the topic, though. WNBA games haven’t averaged 8,000 fans per game since 2009, and the 2017 figure was down 28.9 percent from the league’s all-time high attendance in 1998, which was the WNBA… He woke up with a different thought. For games televised on ESPN, viewership increased by 35 percent from 2017 to 2018. i did two interviews today about the WNBA the wave is growing so stronggggggg y'all make sure to follow @natalieweiner @MirinFader @murrminks @WHoopsBlogger @DorothyJGentry etc they all know a ton more than me i'm just here to cheer and get these basketball jokes off, — Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) July 6, 2018. 2017 viewership hit an all-time low with 171,000 average regular season viewers. Through three games, audience for the 2018 WNBA season is up 58% on ESPN2 compared to the first three games on ESPN2 in 2017. "They've got a player named Sabrina (Ionescu), a player named Ruthy (Hebard), my two favorite players, and Maite Cazorla.". Official Release The Sparks-Lynx game that had Serrano pregame texting ended up including a WNBA milestone. "Those conversations have to take place. He thought about it more overnight. Meanwhile last year’s WNBA championship series averaged 487,000 viewers, with a high of 597,000 for Game 1. So far this season, the WNBA has seen a 36 percent increase in viewership in adults age 18 to 49, a 29 percent jump in men in that age group and a 50 percent increase in women. For the regular season, which ended earlier this … You may opt-out by. They had to. It started with college hoops. My books include Big Blue Wrecking Crew: Smashmouth Football, A Little Bit of Crazy and the '86 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants and Unbeatable: Notre Dame's 1988 Championship and the Last Great College Football Season. And even if he's not a good case study, he's, at the very least, a good story about figurative ear flicking and the women's game. The ratings didn't fall. I produced…. Instead, each player sat on a coach's bench and delivered in-game analysis within earshot of all the chatter during timeouts and the game. "That's how it started: with her flicking me in the ear about it," he said. Greason: WNBA needs to receive more airtime to increase viewership Elizabeth Greason | Monday, September 3, 2018 I feel obligated to add a disclaimer at the start of this column that, although we are only two weeks into the school year, much of The Observer’s readership may already be tired of this topic. Could there be one reason for it? ", atch Oregon basketball," Serrano recommends now. National television viewership for NBA games had nosedived 12 percent since the end of the season compared to 2018-19, ... TNT viewership was down 13 percent and ESPN was down 10 percent. “We thank CBS Sports for making such a meaningful commitment to women’s basketball and for providing another platform to showcase the world-class athletes of the WNBA.” The result?