WNBA Viewership & Attendance Statistics 2026

How many people watch the WNBA?

The most-watched WNBA game on this list is the league's 1997 opener, Liberty vs. Sparks, with 5.04 million viewers on NBC.

What are the most-watched WNBA games?

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NBC's 2026 numbers count TV plus Peacock streaming. Older numbers are TV only. This is a selected list, not a complete ranking.

Peak minute audiences

A peak is the highest minute, not the average audience for the game.

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2026 playoff viewership

Average viewers and peak viewers are separate. The first-round figure is the published 10-game average.

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What audience did each broadcaster report?

In 2026, these networks published both a regular-season average and a game count. The schedules are different sizes, so the bars compare reported audiences. They do not rank the broadcasters.

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Other 2026 partner averages

These averages stay off the bars. The source did not give a full-season game count, the figure is only part of the season, or the number is a split or a subset of a larger average.

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ESPN regular-season average, 2024 and 2025

ESPN reported a 1.2 million average across 24 regular-season games in 2024 and a 1.3 million average across 25 regular-season games in 2025. The 2025 figure uses Nielsen Big Data + Panel. The bars are separate reports, not a percent change in fan interest.

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Sources: NBC Sports press release (Aug. 26, 2026), Sports Media Watch (July 2026), ESPN press release (Sept. 12, 2025), Front Office Sports (Sept. 25, 2026), ESPN press release (Oct. 25, 2024), ESPN press release (Oct. 16, 2025), Just Women's Sports (Oct. 8, 2026), Front Office Sports (Oct. 6, 2026), Sports Media Watch (Oct. 13, 2026).

How many fans attended WNBA games?

The WNBA's 2026 regular season drew 3.79 million fans across 330 games, a league record.

How much of the total comes from games versus average crowds?

Provisional

This is an accounting split of the change in total attendance. It is not a cause of demand. The 2025 game count is calculated, and the 2025 average used here is calculated from the rounded total.

Extra games: 44 x (3,150,000 / 286) = 484,615 (76%). Average crowd: 330 x (11,474 - 3,150,000 / 286) = 151,805 (24%). Together that is 3,786,420 minus 3,150,000, or 636,420. 330 times 11,474 is 3,786,420. Sports Business Journal rounds the 2026 total to 3.79 million, which is a separate rounded figure.

What is the average WNBA attendance per game?

WNBA games averaged 11,474 fans in 2026. The 2024 average was 9,807. The 2025 average is not in this file.

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Unresolved: Sports Business Journal prints 11,148, and 3.15 million divided by 286 is 11,014.

Calculated: 13 teams x 22 home games = 286. The Dec. 2, 2024 schedule release says each of the 13 teams plays 44 games, 22 at home.

Calculated: 12 teams x 20 home games = 240. The Dec. 18, 2023 schedule release says each of the 12 teams plays 40 games, 20 at home. The Sept. 27, 2024 attendance release does not print the game count. 2,353,735 divided by the printed average of 9,807 rounds to 240.

Kenn.com prints 240 games and 1,587,488 fans. That total divided by 240 is 6,614.53, which rounds to the 6,615 average in the league release.

Kenn.com prints 216 games, 1,219,608 fans, and an average of 5,646. Dividing the total by the games gives 5,646.33, which rounds to the printed average.

The share graphic states one fact: 11,474 fans per regular-season game, 2026 WNBA attendance. Source: Front Office Sports, Sept. 25, 2026.

Season totals

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Relocated games

Relocated games are listed apart from the single-game crowd record.

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Unresolved: Sports Business Journal prints 15,743, and 388,997 divided by 25 is 15,560.

What is the biggest WNBA crowd on record?

The biggest WNBA crowd on record is 20,711, for Fever at Mystics on Sept. 19, 2024, as of the league's 2024 release.

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The 20,711 crowd is the record in the league's Sept. 27, 2024 release. A later season topping it has not been confirmed here.

Sources: Front Office Sports (Sept. 25, 2026), Sports Business Journal (Sept. 12, 2025), WNBA.com (Sept. 27, 2024), Kenn.com, Sports Business Journal (Oct. 6, 2026), WNBA.com (Dec. 2, 2024), WNBA.com (Dec. 18, 2023).

Which WNBA team has the biggest home crowds?

The Golden State Valkyries hold the single-season home attendance record with 397,408 fans, set in 2025 and matched in 2026. Indiana drew 340,715 in 2024.

A team ranking chart needs every club's counted home games and home total for one season. This file does not have that complete set, so the ranking chart stays hidden.

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Indiana Fever averaged 15,116 fans on the road in 2026. Road games, not home. Not included in a home ranking. Source: Front Office Sports.

Washington Mystics home attendance changed -16% in 2026, as printed by the source. Front Office Sports reported a 16% drop in home attendance. The season total is not in this file, so there is no ranking bar.

Sources: OurSports Central (Sept. 19, 2026), Golden State Valkyries (Sept. 6, 2025), WNBA.com (Sept. 27, 2024), Front Office Sports (Sept. 25, 2026).

How many people watched the WNBA Finals?

The 2025 Finals averaged 1.5 million viewers across four games. The 2024 Finals averaged 1.6 million viewers, the highest of the last 25 years.

2026 Finals audiences are not on this chart. Unreported games stay in the tracker below.

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2025 Finals, game by game

These are individual games from a completed series. They are not added into the series-average bars above. Games 5, 6 and 7 were not played, so they are left blank.

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Sources: ESPN press release (Oct. 2025), ESPN press release (Oct. 2024), Sports Media Watch (Oct. 2023), Sports Media Watch (Oct. 2025).

How many people are watching the 2026 WNBA Finals?

The 2026 Finals (Valkyries vs. Dream) begin Oct. 17. Audiences are awaiting release.

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Games 5, 6 and 7 are if necessary. The Oct. 13, 2026 WNBA release does not list their dates. Game 3 is at State Farm Arena at 8:00 p.m. ET, which is 5:00 p.m. PT. Game 4 tips at 1:00 p.m. ET, which is 10:00 a.m. PT, on NBC and Peacock.

The game-by-game ratings hub, with peak audience and a CSV, is the 2026 WNBA Finals ratings tracker. Season-long context is in the Finals audience story.

Sources: WNBA.com (Oct. 13, 2026).

Sources

Every figure on this page links to the report it came from. The register is the same set of URLs.

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Cite this page

Ryan Moalemi. WNBA Viewership & Attendance Statistics 2026. Full Court Buckets. Updated Oct. 15, 2026. https://fullcourtbuckets.com/wnba/viewership-attendance/