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ESPN Makes Historic Announcement After Fever-Sky Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Chris Phelps | Last updated May 20, 2025 1:20 PM ET

The 2025 WNBA season started off strong for the Indiana Fever, securing a season-opening win for the first time since 2019.

On Saturday afternoon, Caitlin Clark helped guide the Fever to a dominant 93-58 win over Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky, moving to 1-0 on the young 2025 WNBA season.

The game was aired on ABC as part of a doubleheader, with Sabrina Ionescu and the New York Liberty defeating A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces just a couple of hours earlier.

But it was the Fever vs. Sky that broke records, becoming the most-watched WNBA game ever on ESPN platforms. It averaged 2.5 million viewers and peaked at 3.1 million.

This number was up 115% from last year's regular season ABC average as well. Meanwhile, the last two WNBA champions, the Aces and Liberty, averaged 1.3 million and peaked at 1.9 million.

In comparison , a Fever vs. Sky from last June, which aired on CBS, averaged 2.25 million viewers. But these numbers still don't compare to the 2023 NCAAW national championship between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the LSU Tigers, which averaged 12.3 million viewers.

Both Clark and Reese also made history of their own, facing each other for the fifth time as professionals. Clark recorded her third career triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, the third most in WNBA history.

Reese, on the other hand, tallied 12 points and 17 rebounds, becoming the fastest player in league history to total 450 or more points and 450 or more rebounds.

With the new 44-game schedule for every WNBA team this season, Clark and the Fever will still have four more games against Reese and the Sky. The next head-to-head will be on Saturday, June 7, on CBS.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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