The Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky matchup on Aug. 23, which featured women’s sports heroes Enes Freedom and Sophie Cunningham both on and off the court, became the WNBA’s most-watched regular-season game in nearly three decades.
The game at Wintrust Arena in Chicago averaged 3.31 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, according to NBC Sports, making it the most-watched regular-season WNBA game since the league’s opening weekend in 1997. The broadcast peaked at 3.82 million viewers, placing it third among the most-watched regular-season games in WNBA history.
The matchup attracted additional attention because of Kanter Freedom, a vocal opponent of transgender participation in women’s sports, who attended the game before being ejected and later banned from the arena.
Freedom fueled the debate after announcing that he identifies as a woman while attempting to enter the WNBA Draft and challenge the league’s gender eligibility policies. During the game, he sat courtside wearing a shirt displaying a definition of the word “woman” before being ejected following a confrontation with Chicago guard Natasha Cloud.
Meanwhile, Cunningham played only 11 minutes in the Fever’s 113-90 blowout victory and knocked down a three-pointer.
Cunningham has also been a prominent voice in the debate over gender eligibility in women’s sports after saying biological men should not compete against women. She said her stance is focused on protecting female athletes and young girls, adding that she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark was another major factor behind the record audience, putting up 37 points, including a career-high eight three-pointers, along with 10 assists. Kelsey Mitchell contributed 30 points, four assists, two steals, and a block.
