Indiana at Connecticut delivers 2.1 million viewers across ESPN2, ESPN+, Disney+

Game peaked at 2.3 million viewers

ESPN’s presentation of the 2024 WNBA Tip-Off Presented by CarMax reached new viewership heights for WNBA on ESPN.

The Indiana Fever at Connecticut Sun season opener – featuring Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut – was the most-watched WNBA game on ESPN platforms ever (regular season or playoffs).  The game scored 2.1 million viewers across ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+, surpassing the Phoenix Mercury at Connecticut Sun (May 22, 2004).

The game peaked at 2.3 million viewers in the 7:45 p.m. – 7:59 p.m. window.

The second game of the night featuring the Phoenix Mercury at Las Vegas Aces averaged 464,000 viewers, up five percent year-over-year. The two games averaged 1.28 million viewers, up 192 percent versus last year’s regular season average on ESPN platforms.

WNBA Countdown presented by Google pre-game show leading into Indiana at Connecticut averaged 680,000 viewers across ESPN2, ESPN+, and Disney+, up 126 percent versus last year’s average across ABC and ESPN.

WNBA content across ESPN.com and the ESPN App delivered an increase of 409 percent unique visitors year-over-year. Total engagements for WNBA content across ESPN social accounts is also up 125 percent, year-over-year.

Note: Viewership is reported by Nielsen and includes streaming viewership from connected TVs only.

Coverage of the WNBA Tip-Off presented by CarMax continues Saturday, May 18, with an ABC doubleheader featuring Indiana Fever at New York Liberty (1 p.m. ET), Los Angeles Sparks at Las Vegas Aces (3 p.m.). Live presentation will be preceded by WNBA Countdown Presented by Google hosted by Elle Duncan, Chiney Ogwumike, and Andraya Carter (12:30 p.m.).

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In 2021, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced plans for a 2.7-mile bike lane that would run from Calvert Street NW in Woodley Park to Legation Street NW in Chevy Chase. The plan — supported by bicycling advocates and intended to boost bike safety — was estimated to cost $7.7 million, and would have eliminated more than 300 parking spaces and cut lane capacity for vehicles in half. It was opposed by business owners, who claimed the lane would affect their customers. A D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) official told legislators last month that the plan had been scuttled.

Connecticut should be more focused on business growth

Thank you Gov. Ned Lamont for discouraging the use of public funds for union strike payments. Public funds should never be used to pick sides in the employer – employee negotiation process. Connecticut has a poor reputation for being a smart place to start a business. Therefore, pandering to unions in support of strike actions needs to be stopped. Yes, Democrats love to push union interests, but perhaps, Connecticut could become more aspirational and focused on business growth by siding with entrepreneurs and innovators. That certainly would show a better understanding of competitive positioning, rather than squandering taxpayer funds on political point making and strike disruptions.

Richard Carreau, Old Lyme

Trump facing justice

Trump’s most avid supporters echo his claim that he is the innocent victim of a corrupt legal system in the hands of left-wing villains. Some of his Evangelical supporters even claim that, like Christ, Trump struggles beneath the weight of the cross of blind malice. But for most Americans, Trump’s predicament is less like Christ’s and more like Bernie Madoff’s. Trump is now, like Madoff,  being brought to account, and yes, he, too, has become a target of the same system of justice that sent Madoff to prison. Christ is said to have died for our sins. Trump is no Christ figure and calling him one is an insult to Christ and to authentic Christians throughout the world.

Jack Pasanen, Burlington