ESPN VP: Women Sports Viewership Has Structural Momentum Beyond Any Individual Star
ESPN VP Susie Piotrkowski said the network had its best-ever WNBA regular season and playoff ratings in 2025 even after Caitlin Clark went out injured in July, and that the network is building Women Sports Sundays as a standalone primetime franchise rather than a Caitlin Clark vehicle. Broadcaster Ros Gold-Onwude added that the entire ecosystem of women's basketball is rising, not just individual stars.
Why it matters
The data-backed argument that women's sports viewership is growing structurally is the most powerful tool in any pitch for female athlete endorsement rates. ESPN backing this claim with its own ratings data and committing a primetime slot to the category gives agents a credible institutional source to cite when pushing brand budgets toward women's sports clients.
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