THE WNBA saw a surge in viewing figures during the first round of the Playoffs earlier this month - despite the absence of star name Caitlin Clark.

The Minnesota Lynx, Golden State Valkyries, Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, Las Vegas Aces , Seattle Storm , Atlanta Dream and Indiana Fever all featured in the first round after finishing as the top eight teams in the league.

Three of the four series fixtures went to three games, with only the Lynx winning 2-0 against the Valkyries.

And now it has been revealed that they all drew in a huge audience.

ESPN announced on Tuesday that the first round of the Playoffs garnered an average audience of 943,000 viewers across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.

That makes it the second-most-watched first round in league history, only trailing last year'

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