WNBA Finals starts with most watched Game 1 in 23 years

The WNBA is certainly happy that its much-anticipated matchup of super-teams has gotten off to a strong start. 

According to Nielsen (via Jon Lewis at Sports Media Watch), the Las Vegas Aces' win over the New York Liberty in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals was the most watched title series opener since 2000:

Sunday’s Liberty-Aces WNBA Finals Game 1 averaged a 0.45 rating and 729,000 viewers on ABC, marking the largest audience for Game 1 of the Finals since 2000 — when (Houston) Comets-Liberty averaged 872,000 on Lifetime. The previous high over that span was 594,000 for Sparks-Lynx in 2016.

Not counting the single-elimination WNBA title game in 1997 (Liberty-Comets: 2.85M), only three other Finals opened with a larger audience: the aforementioned 2000 series, Comets-Liberty on Lifetime in 1999 (925K) and Comets-(Phoenix) Mercury in 1998, which averaged 1.07 million across ESPN and Lifetime.

Lewis also noted that the game — a 99-82 blowout — was the most-watched WNBA Finals game on an NFL Sunday since Game 2 of the 2003 Finals between Los Angeles Sparks and Detroit Shock (now Dallas Wings) had 1.28 million viewers.

Certainly, the New York factor is at play as the Liberty present the city's best chance at a major pro hoops championship in 50 years. While market size tends to be overstated as a reason for how well or poorly a league's championship is watched on TV, there's no question that having the NYC region provides a lift for a league that continues to have sizable gains in its viewership year after year.

However, never discount the actual players on the court. A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart are not just building the league's best one-on-one rivalry, but they are doing so at a time in the W when individual star players are bringing fans to the product.

Of course, Game 1 went against Week 5 of the NFL season, a scheduling decision that has been criticized by WNBA fans and some media over the years because of how much the NFL eclipses all else in sports during the season. Yet netting over three-quarters of a million viewers on a Sunday afternoon is nothing to sneeze at, especially as the game also competed with other postseason action from other sports, including the Texas Rangers' 11-8 win over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1 of the American League Division Series and NASCAR's latest race in Charlotte.

Game 2 airs on Wednesday night on ESPN, and it'll go head-to-head against TNT's opening night games from the NHL and Game 3 of the National League Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks. Though MLB should "win the night" in terms of traditional viewership, there's a good chance that the WNBA Finals can improve on its Game 1 number since no one is competing with the NFL that evening, especially if the Game 2 is a more competitive affair in the second half.