Tuesday night Aces-Liberty WNBA matchup ESPN's 'most-watched non-Indiana game' in 26 years

ESPN's broadcast of Tuesday night's WNBA game between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty drew a significant audience, with the Liberty's win averaging 701,000 viewers and peaking at 813,000 viewers. According to reporter Madeline Kenney, this marked the most-watched non-Indiana Fever WNBA game broadcast on ESPN (E1) since 1999, a comparison she clarified applies to regular-season games.

The report acknowledges that the Indiana Fever, featuring star Caitlin Clark, remain the WNBA's top ratings draw. Examples cited include an ESPN Fever preseason game drawing 1.3 million viewers in May and an Ion broadcast of a Fever game exceeding one million viewers even without Clark playing.

Despite this, the Aces-Liberty matchup is highlighted as one of the league's premier contests. Both teams have won the last three WNBA championships (Aces in 2022 and 2023, Liberty in 2024) and currently hold the first and third-best records in the league this season. The strong viewership for Tuesday's game is therefore seen as a positive indicator for the WNBA.