The largest regular-season audiences on every WNBA network in 2026 showcased Caitlin Clark fever.

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever drew the largest regular-season audiences across all seven broadcast platforms during the 2026 season.

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The WNBA made a news release Wednesday, celebrating its record-breaking 2026 season. TV viewing increased, attendance increased, and the league had a lot to promote.

But read the TV section and you'll notice that the same team keeps showing up. ABC's biggest game of the regular season featured Caitlin Clarke and the Indiana Fever. So did the biggest games on CBS, ESPN, ION, NBC and Peacock, USA Network and Amazon Prime Video.

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The league featured seven podiums, and each had their largest regular-season crowd with the Fever on the field.

I've written extensively about Clark's impact on WNBA viewership, including how Indiana's 10 regular-season games on ABC, CBS and NBC averaged double the audience for the opening two games of the semifinals. This time, the league offered a network-by-network breakdown, which is a very good case for giving the Fever as many television windows as possible.

Tab gave every platform something to celebrate

Here are the biggest games of the regular season on the seven platforms listed in WNBA Report:

NBC and Peacock: Indiana-Chicago totaled 3.31 million viewers on Aug. 23, the WNBA's largest regular-season audience since the league's inception in 1997.

ESPN: Indiana-Atlanta on Aug. 16 averaged nearly 2.6 million, a WNBA record viewership for cable.

CBS: Indiana-New York on July 18 was the network's most-watched WNBA game ever, averaging 2.58 million.

ABC: Indiana-Chicago on Aug. 8 averaged 2.56 million, its biggest WNBA regular-season audience in 2026.

ION: Indiana-Dallas on Aug. 14 averaged 1.62 million, the network's most-watched WNBA game ever.

USA Network: Indiana-Golden State averaged 1.14 million on July 15, its biggest WNBA regular season audience.

Prime Video: Indiana-Dallas on Aug. 20 was the WNBA's most-watched game of the regular season, averaging 1.07 million.

The NBC segment also included Indiana's July 12 game against Las Vegas, which drew 2.64 million viewers across NBC and Peacock. It was the second most watched regular season game of the year, behind the Fever's August game against Chicago.

Then there's ESPN and ABC. The Disney-owned networks had five regular season games that drew more than two million viewers, and not surprisingly, Indiana played in all five.

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Put yourself in the shoes of the person buying the WNBA television rights. You want to fit Clark into your schedule as much as you can. The people selling ads around those games probably don't need convincing either.

And fans didn't need every Fever game given to them on a major broadcast network. They also found Indiana on cable and pay streaming services.

There are more people watching the rest of the WNBA

The league reported that 51 regular-season telecasts averaged at least one million viewers, up 19 from last year. Compared to four in 2025, nine reached two million.

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Games without Indiana also found viewers. According to Sports Media Watch, the regular season telecast of the Non-Fever on ESPN and ABC averaged 984,000 viewers, up 24 percent from last year.

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever delivered the highest WNBA regular season television ratings across all seven broadcast platforms in 2026, setting viewership records. (Brian Spurlock/ICON Sportswire)

I've said before that the WNBA's opportunity is to turn the people who show up for Clarke into people who continue to watch other teams. I'd be interested to know how many of these additional viewers started following the league for the first time because of him. The numbers don't answer that question, but a reasonable person might conclude that he certainly didn't hurt overall viewership.

Flash forward to 2023, the year before Clark entered the league. WNBA regular season games across ESPN networks averaged 440,000 viewers, their best regular season viewership in 17 years. Then Clark came in 2024 and averaged 1.2 million, a 170 percent increase, according to ESPN.

That 17-year peak wasn't even half the average audience ESPN drew in Clark's rookie season. Now, three seasons into his career, the league's celebratory press release delivered the largest regular-season audience across all seven platforms.

Indiana's season is over, but the WNBA is still using its games to sell the success of its television business.

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