Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Atlanta Dream guard Destany Henderson (33 years old) broke through the basket during the game.
Brian Spurlock | Graphic Sportsline | Getty Images
The WNBA regular season kicks off Tuesday night with breakout star Caitlin Clark making her debut as point guard for the Indiana Fever. The game will be streamed on Disney+, marking the service’s first live sporting event.
The all-time scoring leader in NCAA men’s and women’s basketball, Clark helped draw a record 18.9 million viewers to the women’s March Madness national championship game last month. The former Iowa star was selected No. 1 overall on April 15, and that alone attracted 2.45 million viewers, 307 percent more than the league’s previous draft high.
Following Clark’s debut against the Connecticut Sun at 7:30 p.m. ET, Disney+ will broadcast the Phoenix Mercury vs. Las Vegas Aces game.
disney The company reported last week that its streaming unit nearly turned a profit for the first time in its fiscal second quarter. The entertainment giant is increasingly relying on sports streaming to boost viewership.
ESPN, owned by Disney, plans to launch a completely direct-to-consumer streaming product in the fall of 2025, allowing consumers to subscribe to ESPN without cable TV.
It is also related to Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corporation The two companies announced in February that they would offer a sports streaming service that is expected to launch this fall.
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery Channel are currently in negotiations for exclusive television rights to NBA games.
The WNBA’s existing media rights agreement expires in 2025.
Tuesday’s WNBA debut could be a “watershed moment for the league,” and the choice to stream the game on Disney+ is “critical” to the league, said Patrick Reish, director of the sports business program at the University of Washington’s Olin School of Business. Demographics of Young People”.
“They covet younger fans, and that’s the way young fans view sports today, is through streaming,” Rich told CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” on Tuesday.
“I certainly see some parallels between the potential of Caitlin Clark and her potential and power in expanding the impact of the WNBA and Lionel Messi and everybody and what’s going on. apple TV,” Rish added, referring to the soccer superstar’s 10-year deal with Major League Soccer and the league’s streaming deal with Apple TV.
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