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Caitlin Clark 's five-game absence from the Indiana Fever's lineup was a tough stretch for the WNBA — which reportedly saw a massive ratings decline as she nursed a quad injury.
According to USA Today, league-wide viewership was down 55% during her time away. With nationally televised Fever games dropping from an average of 1,810,000 viewers to 847,000 viewers over that span.
However her season-high 32 points in Saturday's win over the Liberty led to ESPN's third most-watched WNBA game on ABC in the history of the network.
The @IndianaFever's victory over the @nyliberty on Saturday delivered the 3rd most-watched WNBA game on ABC EVER
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) June 17, 2025
2.2M avg. viewers (2.8M peak)
WNBA on ESPN up 14% from last season pic.twitter.com/noWzK8RIFf
Per ESPN PR, Indiana's victory against the reigning WNBA champs drew an average of 2.2 million viewers with a peak of 2.8 million.
That average was reportedly up 76% over last season's average audience for WNBA games on the channel. And so far in 2025, viewership is up 15% year-over-year across the Worldwide Leader's platforms.
Clark's 32-point outburst over the weekend included seven three-pointers, 8 rebounds and 9 assists on the way to a 102-88 W in front of the home crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The former No. 1 pick is averaging 21.6 points, 9.2 assists and 6.4 rebounds on 36.7% shooting from deep in her five starts this season. While the Fever sit at .500 and third in the Eastern Conference standings.
Next up is another Commissioner's Cup game vs. the Connecticut Sun where Indiana enters as 17.5-point favorites on Tuesday night.
More must-reads:
- How Steelers' Aaron Rodgers feels about being a villain for Bears fans
- Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen suffers freak injury in 'barbecue accident'
- The 'NFL single-game completions leaders' quiz
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Report: 'Clear favorite' emerges to sign Cody Bellinger
Cody Bellinger is preparing to test free agency, but a favorite has reportedly already emerged to sign him. The New York Yankees are seen as the “clear favorite” to retain Bellinger, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Bellinger’s swing is regarded as an ideal fit for Yankee Stadium, and he is coming off a productive season with the team. The usual big-market contenders are cited as possible fallback options for Bellinger should he not return to the Yankees. Those include the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. If Bellinger and the Yankees both enjoyed their time together, there is plenty of reason for them to run it back. The 30-year-old is coming off a very productive season that saw him hit .272 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI. He also logged time at all three outfield positions, and can even play first base as needed. One of Bellinger’s former teams may also have interest in bringing him back, and that could present a tempting option for the former MVP. The Yankees appear to be in the driver’s seat, however, and should be quite motivated to get a deal done given Bellinger’s importance to the team.
Texas HC Steve Sarkisian gives bold claim on job rumors
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian has been a popular name in both the NFL and college football coaching cycles. It makes sense, too. He's brought Texas back to being competitive and in the championship hunt, but he also has a wealth of great experience as an assistant in both college and the NFL. He's about as well-rounded a candidate as you'll find, so of course, programs like the Florida Gators, LSU Tigers or even the New York Giants may be interested to see if he's interested. The thing is, though, he's not. Or, at the very least, that's what he's telling the media. He's all-in with the Longhorns, according to comments he made on a recent SEC teleconference call. “I’d like to comment something before I get into our team that has been bothering me now over the past few weeks. That is people reporting that are insinuating that there’s a possibility I could leave the University of Texas, and that is absolutely false and untrue," Sarkisian said (h/t On3). "I’m not going anywhere. Never do I do this because I never want to be a distraction, so I never address these things. At this point, I feel like this is important that I do this because it’s important for our team. It’s important for our university." Steve Sarkisian has deep roots in Austin and is all-in with Texas As if that weren't clear enough, Sarkisian said that he has not had any discussions with anybody about coaching elsewhere. He even went as far as to say that even his agent hasn't spoken to anyone. Sometimes coaches can say publicly that they aren't talking about any opportunities while, in the meantime, their agents are working backchannels and putting something together. He could be lying, of course, because college football history is full of head coaches saying one thing and doing another. A full-throated statement like this seems to be a pretty clear indication that Sarkisian is serious about what he's saying, though. Heck, he went as far as calling Austin home, which is a pretty big deal for a coach to say. Those guys aren't used to staying in one place for too long. With that said, Sarkisian does have two kids actually enrolled at Texas, one on the football team. He has a third kid he wants to go to Texas in the near future. He also just had a baby. Sarkisian has roots in Austin. He also has high aspirations for the Longhorns. “We came here to win championships," he said. "We’ve built a damn good football program over the five years that we’ve been here. We’ve been to two College Football Playoffs. We won a Big 12 Championship. We went to the SEC Championship game in Year 1. We’ve had 23 players drafted the last two years, which is more than any other school in the country and our team GPA is at an all-time high. “Can we please stop putting things out there that you have absolutely zero evidence on? Can we please stop retweeting and putting it back out there as if it’s true? As if it’s the gospel? It is not true."
There's 'already chatter' Vikings could make Mac Jones call amid J.J. McCarthy's struggles
The ongoing struggles of second-year pro J.J. McCarthy have already sparked conversations among the NFL community about how the Minnesota Vikings might manage their quarterback situation next year. On Wednesday, NFL insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk shared an interesting update regarding the Vikings' plans beyond January. Why Mac Jones could be an option for the Vikings According to Florio, "there’s already chatter in some circles that" the Vikings will explore trading for San Francisco 49ers backup Mac Jones during the offseason. Jones signed a two-year deal with the 49ers in March and, per Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, is under contract for $4.66M for the 2026 season. Breer also linked Jones with the Vikings. Jones went 5-3 across eight starts with the 49ers this season in place of QB1 Brock Purdy, who was dealing with a toe injury. Purdy inked a massive extension with the 49ers last offseason, and there's no indication he's in any danger of losing the starting job to Jones. Meanwhile, McCarthy has made just five career regular-season starts after he missed time this fall due to an ankle injury. The 2024 first-round draft pick spent his entire rookie campaign recovering from a full meniscus repair. According to Pro Football Reference, McCarthy heads into Week 12 ranked last in the NFL among qualified players with a 26.6 adjusted QBR, a 61.7 passer rating and a 52.9 percent completion percentage. He's 2-3 as a starter, while Minnesota is 4-6. Could history repeat itself for Vikings? Last year, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell repeatedly said that spending the 2023 season working with 49ers head coach and offensive guru Kyle Shanahan helped current Seattle Seahawks starting quarterback Sam Darnold experience a necessary career reset. With Darnold in the lineup, the 2024 Vikings finished 14-3 before losing in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Breer mentioned that the Vikings trading for Jones would "be a way to bring in competition for J.J. McCarthy and provide a layer of insurance at an affordable rate for a loaded roster, should McCarthy not ascend through the rest of this season." In short, it sounds like McCarthy will be playing for more than just wins from Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers (6-3-1) through Week 18. As of Wednesday afternoon, ESPN BET had the Vikings as six-point underdogs against the Packers.
MLB’s new media deal may end up being a bad deal for consumers
Major League Baseball will have a new television deal heading into 2026, with NBC/Peacock getting the best portion of the pie. The network, which already hosts "Sunday Night Football," will now also host "Sunday Night Baseball" after spending 36 years on ESPN, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand. NBC/Peacock will also play host to the first round of the playoffs. Marchand adds that the streaming platform Netflix will get the rights to broadcast the Home Run Derby, the Field of Dreams game and the standalone Opening Day game featured in prime time. NBC/Peacock is paying nearly $200 million per year (total of $600 million) for its broadcasting rights, while Netflix is paying $50 million (total of $150 million) for its portion. ESPN, meanwhile, was allowed to broadcast all out-of-market games for all 30 major league clubs, while also getting the right to broadcast in-market games for six teams. ESPN had opted out of its remaining three years of its deal with Major League Baseball back in March. How does MLB's new media deal affect baseball viewing moving forward? This new deal for Major League Baseball isn’t necessarily the best for consumers. Bringing three of the four major pro sports in the United States (baseball, football and basketball) under one umbrella (NBC/Peacock), Major League Baseball will now reach 42 million more people with this maneuver than it originally did. Peacock recently reached that many new subscribers this past October. However, with the U.S. population at 340.1 million people, that number is deceiving. Sports viewers don’t usually stream, with 17 percent of Americans not having streaming services, according to a Pew Research Center poll. There was a recent scandal between ESPN and YouTube TV, in which they were at odds over their deal, cutting off "Monday Night Football," college football and other sports like Formula 1 from 10 million viewers. After a two-week standoff, both sides finally agreed on a deal. NBC/Peacock had its own standoff with the streaming platform heading into October. However, both sides agreed at the final hour. The costs of streaming have gone up over the years, when the point was to be cheaper than cable. With Netflix costing $25 a month (premium), Peacock costing $14 a month ($140 a year) and the ESPN app costing $30 a month ($300 per year), fans' frustrations may continue to mount as the cost to watch sports rises.
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