RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Indiana Fever have become one of the most talked about WNBA teams in the last month or so.
They were already one of the better teams in the league and are, of course, the home of Caitlin Clark.
But interest in the Fever began to spike last month following Sophie Cunningham’s comments about ‘biological males’ in women’s sports.
Around the same time Cunningham’s comments were released, the Fever’s games began to gain more viewers, which has in turn boosted the WNBA’s viewership figures.
Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images
Four of the five WNBA games to reach at least 2.5 million views since July involved Indiana Fever
As reported by Forbes , there has been a surge in viewership, with at least one women’s basketball game being watched by 2.5 million viewers or more every week since July 12.
Aside from the WNBA All-Star Game, the four remaining matches to reach that figure were all Indiana Fever clashes, including the Fever versus Chicago Sky game, which was watched by 2.56 million people on ABC.
The report goes on to explain: “The more recent surge in viewers for Indiana games lines up almost perfectly with the start of a now-viral transgender controversy, which was first triggered by comments from Fever star Sophie Cunningham.”
Similarly, ESPN have shared this week that Indiana Fever vs New York Liberty averaged 2 million viewers, which makes it the second most-watched regular season WNBA game on their platform in 30 years.
Said figures currently put the WNBA somewhat on par with the NBA’s viewership numbers from their most recent season.
In 2025/26, it was reported that 57 NBA telecasts averaged at least 2 million.
Now, Indiana Fever will once again take to the court on Friday, and based on recent patterns, a couple of million people are probably going to tune in to watch them face the Dallas Wings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
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