E.W. Scripps reported that viewership for the WNBA games on Ion jumped 133% during the league’s most recent season, with an average of 670,000 viewers per game.
Scripps expanded into women’s sports with the WNBA and the National Women’s Soccer League, which it credits with increasing upfront advertising sales.
During the second year of its three-year contract with the league, Scripps added over 20 new advertisers to Ion WNBA telecasts.
Women’s basketball benefited from the Caitlin Clark effect, when college basketball’s all-time top scorer entered the WNBA as a rookie and her games drew new viewers to the league. The Paris Summer Olympics significantly boosted the profile of female athletes.
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Ion had the highest proportion of female viewers of any network airing WNBA games this season, with women accounting for 50% of viewers aged 18 to 49 and 45% of total viewers.
Male viewers aged 25 to 54 climbed by 181%.
For the season, Ion’s games, presented by State Farm, drew 23.4 million unique viewers across games and wrap programs.
This season, Ion provided more than 3.7 million hours of viewing across streaming platforms such as Roku, Samsung TV Plus, LG, Vizio, Xumo, Plex, Amazon Fire Channels, Pluto, CW, and Tablo.
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“This season was a big step forward for the WNBA and its players in terms of exposure, both in arenas and on television,” said Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor. “It was so exciting to see the momentum grow throughout the season. Scripps is happy to have played a role in that.”
In July, the WNBA agreed to new rights deals totaling $2.2 billion over 11 years with The Walt Disney Company’s ESPN, NBC, and Amazon.
Scripps expects to be able to continue its contract with the WNBA beyond the following season.
“We are incredibly pleased with the success of our partnership with Scripps Sports, which has played a pivotal role in amplifying the reach and visibility of the WNBA season,” Cathy Engelbert, the WNBA commissioner, told reporters. “Through this partnership, we’ve been able to showcase great basketball with a broader audience, deepening the connection between the league, the players and our growing fanbase while delivering record-breaking viewership numbers.”
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