Clark and Reese were front and center in yet another rematch between the former college rivals.EMILEE CHINN/GETTY IMAGES)

The hotly anticipated rematch between Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky and Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever set another high mark for WNBA television viewership.

On Tuesday, CBS Sports announced that 2.252 million people tuned in for the second 2024 meeting between the Midwest teams, which aired on CBS and saw the Fever win, 91-83. It was the highest viewership for a WNBA game since a Memorial Day matchup in 2001. The network group claimed that viewership on Sunday peaked with nearly 3 million viewers, though at which point of the game this happened was not disclosed.

The TV audience for the afternoon tilt, which was played in front of a sellout crowd of 17,274 at Indiana’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse, surpassed Clark’s pro debut on May 14 when an average audience of 2.12 million watched the former Iowa Hawkeyes superstar face off against Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and the title-contending Connecticut Sun. That game, shown in primetime, held its own against stiff playoff competition from the NBA and NHL.

Sky/Fever II is another feather in the cap for the W and its broadcasting partners at CBS, ESPN/ABC and Ion Television, each of which has experienced a viewership lift from a season ago.

Back on June 1, the initial meeting between the Sky and Fever was already notable for being the first time Clark would play against Reese in the pros after a fierce rivalry in college. However, the game took a combative turn when Chicago guard Chennedy Carter shoulder-checked Clark in response to a previous play by Clark—while officials called a normal foul on the floor, it was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 foul by the league the next day.

The play, as well as Reese’s cheering from the bench, her refusal to talk with the media afterwards and the overall chippiness between the teams, fueled days of hot takes within and beyond sports media. Between ill-equipped media personalities and bad faith actors chiming in, the discourse morphed away from basketball rather quickly and carried into the announcement of the roster for the U.S. women’s basketball team for the upcoming Olympics.

The W’s viewership, which had been ascending in recent seasons, has skyrocketed in 2024 thanks in huge part to the mania around Clark as well as intrigue about fellow rookies like Reese, Kamilla Cardoso (also on the Sky) and the LA Sparks’ Cameron Brink. Though the league had made its schedule months in advance of Clark’s decision to enter the WNBA Draft, it front-loaded much of national schedule around the Fever once the team made her the top overall pick back in April. In fact, 36 of the Fever’s 40 games have been or will be shown nationally on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS, CBS Sports Network, Ion or Prime Video.

Although the Fever have played better as of late, neither team is lighting the league on fire, with Indiana and Chicago ranking eighth and ninth in the standings, respectively. However, they rate higher in Sportico’s first WNBA team valuations, which also notes total revenue each team pulled in during the 2023 season.

Chicago is fifth and valued at $95 million, while Indiana is sixth and valued at $90 million. The average valuation for the 12 teams is $96 million.

ESPN will have Round 3 between the Fever and Sky on June 23 as Clark comes to Chicago for the first time this season. Ion will broadcast their fourth and final meeting of the regular season on Aug. 30, also in Chicago.