Unrivaled opening night doubleheader draws same viewership as Caitlin Clark-less WNBA regular season game: Reports

By Michael Macasero

Modified Jan 22, 2025 02:44 GMT

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Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier said that the new 3x3 league wanted to bring Caitlin Clark to the tournament. Collier declared that Clark’s $75K salary in the WNBA wasn’t worth the impact the point guard brought. The Minnesota Lynx superstar claimed that Clark should be one of the best-paid athletes in the world “just for the sheer numbers she’s bringing in.”

Clark eventually turned down what Front Office Sports reported as a “full-court press” from Unrivaled. The “sheer number” Collier hoped would likely follow the WNBA Rookie of the Year also disappeared.

TNT Sports, which has media rights to Unrivaled games, reported the viewership numbers for the opening doubleheader on Friday.

Lunar Owl BC, led by Collier, against the Mist BC of co-founder Breanna Stewart, averaged 313K viewers. The next game between Vinyl BC and the Angel Reese-led Rose BC normed 311K viewers. Per Awful Announcing, WNBA Caitlin Clark-less games fell a little short of 400K views.

Awful Announcing also predicted Unrivaled's overall viewership:

“Somewhere between Ice Cube's Big3 and the WNBA playoffs, probably...”

When Caitlin Clark made her highly anticipated debut, ESPN 2 announced that it had 2.1 million viewers who watched the Indiana Fever face the Connecticut Sun. The number outdrew the NBA’s opening games Awful Announcing reported averaging 1.6 million.

The WNBA playoffs alone back up the impact of Clark’s impressive draw. Sports Media Watch announced Game 1 of the Connecticut Sun-Indiana Fever showdown reached 1.84 million views, making it the most-watched postseason game since 2000.

Game 2 of the Sun-Fever series brought in even more staggering numbers. 2.54 million fans watched Clark and the Fever lose in the rematch.

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Caitlin Clark hasn’t ruled out joining Unrivaled in the future

In Caitlin Clark’s exit interview, the rookie told reporters that she wants to become a “professional golfer.” She kept her word and played in The Annika, a pro-am LPGA tournament hosted by Annika Sorenstam. The WNBA All-Star also appeared in the RSM Classic hosted by 2023 Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson.

Clark hasn’t ruled out joining the Unrivaled, though. In her interview with TIME, after she was named the magazine’s Athlete of the Year winner, Clark said:

“I didn't rule out doing it in the future, but this year is just not the best for me. It’s going to be good for me to do my own thing and have my own space. ... I kind of want to just stay out of the spotlight.”

No one will be surprised if Unrivaled puts out another “full-court press” after the 2025 WNBA season to convince Caitlin Clark to join.