WNBA Draws Massive TV Audience For New York Liberty Championship Win Over Minnesota, With One Possible Caveat

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The WNBA Finals came down to a decisive Game 5 between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx. The Liberty outlasted the Lynx in overtime to capture the franchise's first league championship. 

Winner-take-all games typically do well on television among American audiences, but the WNBA had a few things going against it. 

First, there was a National League Championship game between two powerhouse markets: the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Then, there was a Sunday Night Football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets. Both teams tend to do very well nationally when it comes to TV ratings. 

Plus, there were two other New York teams playing at the same time as the Liberty. 

However, none of that seemed to matter too much. According to Sports Media Watch, Game 5 of the WNBA Finals drew an average of 2.15 million viewers, which is a massive number for the league. 

Game 5 of the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx averaged over two million viewers despite going against NFL and MLB.

Game 5 of the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx averaged over two million viewers despite going against NFL and MLB. 

(Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

It will still be heavily out-rated by both the NFL and MLB games, but for the WNBA, two million viewers is a high threshold. 

It definitely helped that the Mets failed to show up for Sunday's Game 6, falling down 6-0 in the first three innings. 

Additionally, the Steelers blew out the hapless Jets and won by three touchdowns. 

The Liberty's win over the Lynx drew the first TV audience of more than two million viewers this season for a game that did not involve Caitlin Clark. 

YouTube TV, the primary sponsor of the WNBA Finals, might have played a role in inflating the viewership of Game 5. 

Now, there is one slight caveat. It's unclear if the data was skewed at all by YouTube TV forcing viewers to include the WNBA Finals in their multiview that also included the Sunday Night Football game and the NLCS contest. 

As OutKick's Joe Kinsey wrote on Monday, "Were you given an option to opt out of the WNBA? Hell no you weren't. YouTubeTV had sponsorship all over that product. You'll put the WNBA on your screen and like it.

"Did YouTubeTV, which has an estimated 8 million-plus subscribers, game the TV ratings? That's for you to decide." 

Even if they did massively influence the ratings, it worked. WNBA players are demanding more money, so this number couldn't have come at a better time. 

Thanks to Caitlin Clark entering the league, ratings, attendance and viewership were way up all season. 

And, clearly, many people stuck it out until the end. 

Even if they were forced to do so. 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.