Athletes of Impact
Few athletes have impacted their sports financially the way Caitlin Clark has impacted the WNBA. Some examples of athletes who have financially impacted their sports…Larry Bird and Magic Johnson faced each other in the NCAA championship game, entered the pros at the same time, and ushered in expanded interest and TV packages.
Tiger Woods was at the center of an explosion of interest in professional golf.
Joe Namath was the right man at the right time, and gave a huge bump in the NFL.
Don’t Confuse the Argument
A strong argument can be made that while other athletes were at center of an explosion of the interest in their sports, no athlete has financially impacted their sport the way Caitlin Clark did in her rookie year.
Few sports historians would try to claim that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are better basketball players than Michael Jordan or even Lebron James.
In saying Caitlin Clark has had a greater impact on her sport than any athlete, it is not arguing that she is the greatest athlete of all time or even the greatest women’s basketball player of all-time. Popularity is not synonymous with greatness.
There are some people who seem to think that to acknowledge Clark’s huge popularity is tantamount to saying she is the greatest player of all-time. And conversely, there are Clark fanatics who mistakingly equate her popularity as a sign of her being the greatest of all time.
Being the most popular and being the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all time) are two different topics.
Don’t Forget the Oscars
When I said that Bird and Johnson took the NBA to a different level, that is absolutely true. But in shining the light on what Bird and Johnson did, we tend to diminish the sweat and blood of the players who came before them.
Oscar Robertson is one such player. Not only was he a great player on the court but few impacted the league off the court the way the Big O did. His work as President of the Players Union was instrumental in getting the league to where it is today.
There are many, many “Oscar Robertson’s” in the WNBA’s history that need to be recognized and celebrated.
When we talk about the change in the WNBA created by Clark, it is not intended to ignore all the sweat and blood of the previous players. She has just been the right player at the right time. If not for Covid, maybe Sabrina Ionescu could have become the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark. Had ESPN jumped on the bandwagon earlier, maybe Candace Parker would have been the force to chance the WNBA.
Let’s try to understand the Clark phenomenon in terms of numbers.
18.9 Million to 14.8 Million
Caitlin Clark’s senior year, when Iowa played in the NCAA Championship game, the TV viewership of that game was 18.9 million. That same weekend, the TV viewership of the men’s NCAA championship game was 14.8 million.
2.64 Million
This year, the largest TV crowd for a WNBA game was 2.64 million for the Fever vs. Las Vegas Aces on July 12. The top five viewed WNBA games on TV this year have all been Indiana Fever games. Only WNBA games have drawn over 2 million viewers.
1.34 Million
The most viewed non-Indiana game this year was between the Seattle Storm and Minnesota Lynx on June 6 when 1.34 fans watched.
3.44 Million
The top 10 most viewed WNBA events of all-time have been games in which Caitlin Clark has played. 3.44 million fans watched the 2024 All-Stars vs the Olympians. The other 9 most watched have been Indiana Fever games.
16
Caitlin Clark arrived in the WNBA in 2024. In the previous 16 years, no WNBA games had a TV viewership of 1 million.
6,600
The average attendance in the WNBA in 2023 was 6,600. After Clark’s draft in 2024, the WNBA average attendance jumped to 9,807 fans.
17,000
Clark’s rookie year, the Fever drew an average of 17,000 fans. The year before their average attendance had been 4,067 the year before Clark arrived.
16,580
In Clark’s first season, Indiana’s average road attendance was 16,580, while the rest of the league was averaging 6,600 fans.
7
This season, 7 of the other teams in the WNBA move their games vs. Indiana to a larger arena.
4,200
There are still WNBA franchises that don’t come close to the interest level generated by the Fever. It is evident in the capacity of their home arenas-
Washington 4,200
Atlanta (Angel Reese home arena) 6,131
Dallas (Paige Bueckers home arena) 6,810
9
In the 20 years before Clark entered the league in 2024, no teams had averaged 10,000 fans. This season 9 teams average over 10,000 fans- Golden State, New York, Indiana, Portland, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Minnesota, and Phoenix
14,072
Indiana leads the WNBA in road attendance at 14,072.
1.4 Million
In 2023, the average WNBA salary was $147,000, today it is $600,000. The max salary in 2023 was $252,000 and today it is $1.4million.
3,951
Coming into the WNBA, Clark was the NCAA D1’s all-time leading scorer with 3,951 points. She surpassed Kelsie Plum’s 3,527. Clark had averaged 31.6ppg as a senior, and had led the nation in scoring three of her four seasons.
30
Much of the interest in Caitlin Clark has to do with the “logo three.” Basketball statisticians refer to the “deep three.” The three arc in college is about 22 feet, and the “deep three” is considered at 25’3”. In the pros the arc is 23’9” and the “deep three” is 30’.
In the NBA, Steph Curry is a fan favorite for his long range shots. He shoots 42.7% on regular threes, and 36.2% on “deep threes.” Nobody would be apt to describe Steph Curry as the best player in the NBA, but he is like Clark, the player be most most to see.
Clark as a college senior shot 39.2% on deep threes. Although Clark’s three point shooting percentage is not strong, she is almost as accurate from 30 feet as from 22 feet. In the pros, her deep threes percentage has varied from 30-38%.
28
Clark’s average made threes come from 28 feet (the arc is 23’9”). This compares to Curry’s average makes at 27 feet.
35
In her college and pro careers, Clark has missed a total of 35 games. She missed no games in college, no games her first year in the pros, 27 in 2025, and so far this year 4 games. Obviously this has impacted her development as a pro.
7
Clark has had trouble control her emotions as a pro. Presently she has 7 technical fouls on the season. This is significant because a player receives a one game suspension on her 8 technical. At the present, Clark is averaging one technical in about every 3.5 games. So with 17 games to go, it is likely she will receive at least one game suspension. (After reaching 8 technicals, then a player is suspended for every two technicals.
Clark’s behavior in these situations does little to endear her to Fever and non-Fever fans.
4
Four of Clark’s technicals have been a reaction on her part to a call or “no call” by a refs.
3
Three of Clark’s technicals have been the result of a confrontation with an opposing player.
4-0
Indiana’s record when Clark has not been able to play this season.
10
Clark is in the top ten statistically in WNBA…
Scoring- #4- 21.0ppg (A’ja Wilson 26.1ppg)
Assists- #2- 7.9apg (Alyssa Thomas 8.3apg)
3’s Made- #5- 2.6 per game (Mariana Mabry 3.3)
Free Throws Att- #7- 6.1 (A’ja Wilson 7.6)
Turnovers- #1- 4.7 (#2- Thomas 3.5)
(With 3 %, her 34.5% in not in the top 10.)
3
Few people are lukewarm in their thoughts about Clark- they seem to be very hot or very cold.
In the All-Star voting, the WNBA players ranked Clark as the 11th best guard in the league. The media ranked her the 3rd guard, and the fans ranked her as 2nd overall player.
In the mid-season WNBA analysis, the national sports source, the Athletic did not mention Caitlin Clark or the Indiana Fever in the entire article.
ESPN just did mid-season ranking of the players in the WNBA. They ranked Clark as #3 in the league. Their ranking was- #1- A’ja Wilson (LV), #2-Kelsy Plum (LA) , #3- Clark (Ind), #4-Bueckers (Dal), #5- Breanna Stewart (NY), #6- Olivia Miles (Mn), #7- Alisha Gray (Atl), #8- Rhyne Howard (Atl), #9-Jackie Young (LV), #10- Alyssa Thomas (LV), #11- Kelsey Mitchell (Ind).
0
I have zero interest in the recent attention of some conservative politicians in the WNBA and Caitlin Clark. And I am equally turned off by the sudden interest in Clark by a popular conservative news outlet. All of this new attention is laced with words designed to inflame issues and controversy around Clark and the WNBA.
I would argue that these politicians and news outlets have no interest in what is best for the league, the players, or the fans. They have no interest in enlightening us about the league and Clark. They have no interest in celebrating Clark’s achievements and performances.
Also the recent USA Today article was a shameful attack on Clark. It is as if the USA Today bosses gave a writer the following instructions, “Pick out the person in the news who people want to read about and write something so controversial that it will sell newspapers.” Shameful.
These forces are promoting division. Writers, politicians, players, and fans who promote drama- I am tired of it!!
100
I am 100% interested in celebrating the increased interest in women’s basketball on all levels. The light is bright enough to shine on all the wonderful players in the WNBA.
In the words of Barrack Obama to Caitlin, “Don’t lose the joy.”
3
After President Obama sought out Clark to meet her and offer some advice, Caitlin asked if she could have a picture with him. And immediately, after the first picture motioned to her teammates, Boston and Mitchell to come over. She got them in a picture with President Obama. The 3 players in a picture with the President is a picture of a great teammate- making sure to take care of her teammates.
