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ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JUNE 20: Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever drives to the basket against Angel Reese #5 of the Atlanta Dream during the second quarter at State Farm Arena on June 20, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Colin Hubbard\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Caitlin Clark\u2019s ability to move a television audience has been apparent almost from the moment she entered the WNBA.<\/p>\n
What is becoming just as clear is how much bigger the event can become when another star is standing across from her.<\/p>\n
The latest evidence came Friday, when Clark and the Indiana Fever<\/a> faced Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings<\/a> on ION.<\/p>\n Getty\u00a0Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever dribbles against Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings during the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on August 14, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana.<\/p>\n The game averaged 1.62 million viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA game in the network\u2019s history and ION\u2019s most-watched telecast of any kind since August 2022.<\/p>\n It even beat football.<\/p>\n The Fever-Wings audience surpassed the 1.36 million viewers for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-New York Jets<\/a> preseason game on NFL<\/a> Network, making Clark-Bueckers the most-watched sporting event of the day<\/a>.<\/p>\n The number reinforces a formula that has increasingly become one of the WNBA\u2019s most valuable television commodities: Clark plus a compelling opponent.<\/p>\n Caitlin Clark-Paige Bueckers Delivers for ION Getty\u00a0A fan holds up a sign in support of Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on August 12, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.<\/p>\n Bueckers gave Friday\u2019s matchup another layer of star power.<\/p>\n The former UConn sensation scored 29 points for Dallas in the Wings\u2019 98-87 loss, while Clark delivered another signature performance for Indiana.<\/p>\n Their matchup represented two generations of college basketball phenomena now sharing the WNBA stage. Clark arrived first and immediately became the league\u2019s biggest television draw. Bueckers followed as another nationally recognizable star with a substantial audience from her college career.<\/p>\n The result on ION was difficult to ignore.<\/p>\n The network\u2019s WNBA games are averaging 589,000 viewers this season. Clark-Bueckers drew nearly three times that number. The 1.62 million audience also included 769,000 women.<\/p>\n It is the latest sign that individual matchups \u2014 not merely teams \u2014 are increasingly capable of becoming national events for the WNBA.<\/p>\n And nobody has demonstrated that better than Clark and Angel Reese.<\/p>\n Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese Rivalry Remains Ratings Gold Getty\u00a0Angel Reese of the LSU Lady Tigers<\/a> reacts towards Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the fourth quarter during the 2023 NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament championship game at American Airlines Center on April 02, 2023 in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n The Clark-Reese dynamic has followed them from the 2023 NCAA championship game into the professional ranks, surviving trades, injuries and changing supporting casts.<\/p>\n Reese now plays for Atlanta, but the television appeal remains.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, a Fever-Sky game averaged 2.6 million viewers on ABC, the network\u2019s largest WNBA audience this season. The only WNBA game to perform better on ABC was the 2.7 million who watched Clark and Reese face each other in Indiana\u2019s 2025 season opener.<\/p>\n Then came another Clark-Reese chapter Sunday.<\/p>\n Indiana\u2019s 95-91 overtime victory over the Atlanta Dream<\/a> averaged 2.58 million viewers on ESPN, setting a record as the most-watched WNBA game ever on cable. The audience peaked at approximately 4 million viewers<\/a>.<\/p>\n The game even supplied another viral Clark-Reese moment when Reese missed a potential game-winning layup at the end of regulation and cameras caught Clark reacting from the sideline<\/a>.<\/p>\n Caitlin Clark Remains Common Thread in WNBA\u2019s Biggest Audiences<\/p>\n The numbers underscore something larger than any manufactured debate over whether Clark alone deserves credit for the WNBA\u2019s television growth.<\/p>\n She is unquestionably its central ratings engine. Sports Media Watch reported that the 12 largest WNBA audiences since 2000 have all involved Clark.<\/p>\n But sports audiences have always been amplified by opponents people care about.<\/p>\n Magic<\/a> needed Bird. Serena needed Venus and Sharapova. Tiger\u2019s Sundays became more compelling when somebody threatened him.<\/p>\n For this era of the WNBA, Bueckers and Reese are helping provide that tension around Clark.<\/p>\n Friday delivered Clark-Bueckers and an ION record. Sunday brought another Clark-Reese chapter and an ESPN record.<\/p>\n The common denominator remains Clark.<\/p>\n Increasingly, though, the WNBA is discovering just how valuable it can be when its biggest attraction has another star on the other side.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAlder Almo<\/a> is a veteran NBA reporter for Heavy.com, covering the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors. He brings over 20 years of experience across local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Originally from the Philippines, he is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JUNE 20: Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever drives to the basket against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":864434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-864433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dallas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dallas-wings-v-indiana-fever-indianapolis-indiana-august-14-caitlin-clark.jpg\")
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