Angel Reese’s WNBA debut was widely watched on live fan broadcasts

Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso’s WNBA debut received wide attention on social media live broadcast from a fan who stepped in when the league’s app couldn’t stream the sport.

Reese and Cardoso played of their first preseason game for the Chicago Sky on Friday night, a 92-81 loss to the Minnesota Lynx.

The WNBA app had incorrectly mentioned the sport as available to look at, resulting in confusion amongst fans before the league clarified that only Caitlin Clark’s debut from the Indiana Fever was being broadcast.

This is when @heyheyitsalli entered X.

“Would you like me to try broadcasting the game here?” user X asked: “I don’t promise quality, but I can try.”

Viewer numbers for the livestream varied, however the video had about 434,000 total views as of Saturday. User X previously posted a screenshot showing that the live stream peaked at 173,381 viewers.

“These are some of the WILDEST numbers, WOW” – user he tweeted.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was asked concerning the stream After game. She said @heyheyitsalli deserves “three dollars” per viewer.

“Anyone who watched this could send that person three dollars. I do not even know who that’s,” Reeve said. “I suppose I might say the expansion is going on in a short time. It’s so sped up. I’ve been saying this over and another time in our own organization – business as usual will not work.

“You will be left behind, and this is an example.”

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Reeve said she understood Clark’s game can be televised and was “all about it.”

“People want to see it, but they also want to see, you know, it’s not just about Caitlin,” Reeve said. “This is in no way Caitlin’s fault. Rather, it’s about knowing that there’s a widespread excitement about the WNBA that we haven’t seen before. So we have to leverage the potential to really make sure this is a movement.”

Reese finished the sport with 13 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes. Cardoso had six points and 4 rebounds in 13 minutes.

Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said she was pleased with the debutants’ debuts.

“It’s a learning process for all of us. … And we are going through this process the right way,” she said. “Our leaders lead them and pull them along. Maintaining their self-confidence. This is what counts. So we’re in a great place and they’re in a damn great place.”