WNBA playoff ratings surge 142% over last year

By the numbers: The league averaged 970,000 viewers across the first 17 playoff games, a 142% increase from the 2023 playoffs, according to Nielsen data shared by ESPN Thursday.

• The semifinals — which featured the New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx, Connecticut Sun and Las Vegas Aces — averaged 850,000 viewers per game.
• That's up 99% from last year's semis and also represents a 25-year high for the league.

Zoom out: The star power of the league's rookie class, featuring the Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky's Angel Reese, drew legions of new fans this season.

Yes, but: Reese's team missed the playoffs, and Clark's was eliminated in the first round after losing the first two games of a best-of-three series.

• That means interest in the playoffs still grew despite neither participating in the later rounds.

What we're watching: The WNBA finals tipped off Thursday night, with the Lynx staging a historic comeback to steal game 1 from the Liberty in overtime.

• Game 2 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for 3pm Sunday.

Go deeper: The Lynx are heavy underdogs against New York this week