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WNBA kicks off 25th season with a ratings boost

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@WNBA

The WNBA continues to soar on television.

WNBA ratings this past weekend were up 25 percent from opening weekend last season. Six of the eight games were on national television, including a Saturday doubleheader on ABC.

Saturday’s game between the Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics, in which Candace Parker made her Sky debut, drew 611,000 average viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA regular-season game since 2012. Between that matchup and the Seattle Storm-Las Vegas Aces game that followed, Saturday’s doubleheader averaged 605,000 viewers on ABC.

The league’s season opener between the Indiana Fever and the New York Liberty, which aired on NBA TV, also saw a ratings increase of 27 percent.

The numbers continue a positive trend from last season, when overall viewership was up 68 percent during the WNBA regular season.