Clark & WNBA- How Many Really Care

In 2017 we faced Morton in the Sectional at Limestone. It was the first time in several years that we had a Sectional within 60 minutes of Galesburg. It was a big game- Sectional, Morton. We will pick in the crowd, Peoria doesn’t know what Galesburg fans are like come tourney time. That night there were 5 times more Morton fans than Galesburg fans. I don’t think I was ever so disappointed in a Galesburg crowd as I was that night. My point is that sometimes our own personal interest blinds us to the interest level of other people. 

When it comes to the women’s basketball (college & WNBA), and Caitlin Clark, I look at the number of games on TV, the huge crowds, and the conversations on TV talk shows. This morning the lead story on ESPN Sportscenter was on Caitlin Clark’s first game coming back after the Olympic break. So I look at all this and my thought is that women’s basketball is taking off. 

Dave Wood shared a story about the day before we went to the Fever game. Woody was golfing with a regular golf group. He told them he was going to miss the next day to go to the Fever game. Woody shared that a couple asked how we got tickets, who the Fever played, and made comments about something Clark had done. The final comment of someone in the group said,”Do you think five years ago we would be on the golf course talking about the WNBA?’ Another message that women’s basketball is taking off.

Amy and I took a vacation that included a stop at Fort Collins, Colorado. One evening we were going to go out to eat and watch the WNBA All-Stars vs the USA Team. We were told there was a really good dive bar that had multiple TV’s. When the game was starting, the bar was only half full. None of the TV’s were on the women’s basketball channel. After I requested, they put a small TV onto the channel. They kept the Royals baseball game on the big TV. 

The game was a great game. As the game went on, the bar filled up, but as I looked around, Amy and I were the only one’s looking at the women’s basketball game. Seriously, the bar was full, it was huge game, and no one was watching it. 

The game was going down to the wire, and with 3 minutes to go, the bartender walked over to our TV and started to change the channel. I told him we were watching the game. He replied, “Sorry, I didn’t think anyone cared about that game, and some other people asked to change it to the Rockies game.” 

That experience in Fort Collins was eye opening. I would never have predicted the lack of interest in that game at a “sports bar.” I still am not sure if I should interpret as a reality check or a low sports IQ of Colorado fans.

I have tried with anything that I write about the WNBA to put it under the heading of Caitlin Clark. A couple weeks ago, on Facebook I put in a plug for a blog whose title started with Caitlin Clark. Under comments someone put, “I am REALLY, REALLY tired of all the Caitlin Clark shit.” 

So what is the interest level? Is it just a small, intense group of fans? Is the interest fading? 

At the bottom here, I really would like you to share what your interest is and what you think is happening to the interest in the WNBA and Clark and women’s basketball. PLEASE SHARE- PLEASE SHARE YOUR COMMENTS!!!