Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso made quite the splash in their WNBA debuts with the Chicago Sky, drawing significant attention despite a hiccup on the part of the league. During the Sky‘s preseason opener against the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night, the WNBA’s streaming app failed to broadcast the game, despite prior listings indicating that all preseason matchups would be available for viewing on the app.
However, one resourceful individual attending the game in Minneapolis took matters into their own hands by starting a live stream on their cellphone.
“Would y’all want me to try and stream the game on here??” @heyheyitsalli posted. “No promises on the quality but I can try.”
The views
According to the New York Post, the impromptu live stream quickly gained traction, amassing over 545,000 views by Sunday morning, with the original post garnering 2.4 million views.
While some media outlets hyped up the “millions” of viewers for the game, others stressed that the reality is a bit different. View counts on platforms like X do not necessarily equate to individual viewers, as any user who scrolls past a video registers as a “view.”
Comparisons between X “views” and traditional television ratings are misleading. Television ratings, measured by Nielsen, provide a more accurate representation of viewership, accounting for average viewership per minute throughout a broadcast.
Racism accusations
Following the streaming mishap, the league issued an apology and clarified that only Caitlin Clark‘s debut with the Indiana Fever was officially streamed.
The WNBA faced accusations of racism after failing to broadcast Reese‘s preseason debut with the Chicago Sky on Friday, while opting to stream Clark‘s debut with the Indiana Fever instead.
https://www.marca.com/en/basketball/wnba/chicago-sky/2024/05/07/663a06b7e2704e19b08b45b6.html
