Everyone lecturing WNBA officials about its business should check out the historic viewership numbers for the NBA’s sister league this summer.
Amid controversy over Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham’s stance on trans rights, the hard foul she absorbed from Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington, and the absence of any league gender-identity policy, the WNBA has still managed to attract fans.
Tuesday’s Indiana-New York Liberty game from Brooklyn drew ESPN’s second-largest regular-season WNBA audience in three decades with an average of 2 million viewers. That audience is actually 116 percent higher than ESPN’s regular-season average dating back to last season.
For the season, WNBA viewership is on a 12-percent uptick, according to Sports Business Journal, which further reported that games on ABC and ESPN are up about 5 percent from 2025, when Fever star Caitlin Clark was battling season-long injury problems.
Of course, one would never know the WNBA is enjoying a successful season with audiences given the uproar over Cunningham, Carrington, and the league’s trans debate.
Cunningham voiced opposition to trans athletes in women’s sports, sparking protests and counterprotests across several stops on a recent Indiana road trip. It was during the finale of the Fever’s three-game road trip that Carrington was ejected for a hard foul on Cunningham, leading to uproar from the Indiana forward’s supporters.
DiJonai Carrington’s hard foul on Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham has led to major controversy
Carrington came under fire from WNBA fans after she committed a string of hard fouls
In response to online criticism over the foul, Carrington, who is Black, wrote ‘white privilege’ on X. Later, in another post, she denied writing that comment in response to the foul call, but did not offer any further explanation.
And this week, Carrington came under fire again after having a fan removed from their seat only to have her complaint described as ‘unfounded.’
In the fourth quarter of a game between the Sky and the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, Carrington went to officials to complain about the behavior of a fan sitting courtside.
The fan was then escorted away by security, only to return later in the game.
‘The fan was cooperative after a complaint that was unfounded,’ a Valkyries official told ClutchPoints.
A statement from the Sky to ClutchPoints revealed the fan was given a warning, but otherwise declined to comment.
Officials chatted to Sky head coach Tyler Marsh before Carrington spoke with referees and a Chicago staff member, likely to tell them what the fan said.
Sophie Cunningham is left with a bloody mouth after receiving a hard foul from Carrington
That same Chicago staffer spoke briefly to the fan, who was later seen laughing on camera with the woman sitting beside him.
‘So, there is a stoppage right now as Chicago’s team security has stepped out along with arena security representatives,’ a commentator on the USA Network broadcast said. ‘Carrington went over to one of the officials, as you see Sarah Williams there, to say something.’
The co-commentator on the broadcast said, ‘I don’t know what was or wasn’t said. I will say respect for the players is something, especially right now, that is being taken very seriously from everybody around the league, as it should be.’
Play resumed as security escorted the fan away from his seat. Eventually, he was seen back in his spot.
Carrington finished the game with just three points and three rebounds in 24 minutes of a 91-71 loss.
