ESPN delivered its most-watched WNBA Playoffs ever through the semifinals in 2026, continuing a record-setting year of WNBA viewership across ESPN networks as the league celebrates its 30th season.
Across eight games, ESPN networks averaged 1.4M viewers, up 23% compared to coverage through the semifinals last year.
A record-setting regular season
The postseason performance follows ESPN’s most-watched WNBA regular season ever, marking the third consecutive year ESPN networks set a regular-season viewership record. Across 29 games, ESPN networks averaged 1.37M viewers, up 17% year-over-year, with five games surpassing 2M viewers.
ESPN averaged 1.24M viewers across 17 games, up 32%, while ABC averaged 1.56M viewers across 12 games, up 9%. Younger audiences also grew significantly, with viewership among Persons 2–17 increasing 29% and Persons 18–24 rising 27%.
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel
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