Here are all the ways Caitlin Clark made ratings history this year

When we say Caitlin Clark had a record-setting rookie season in the WNBA, we’re not just talking about what she did on the court.

Of course, it’s impressive that Clark set the WNBA single-season record and single-game record for all players, not just rookies. She also holds the rookie records for points and 3-pointers, in addition to ending the WNBA’s longest hitting streak.

However, Clark’s biggest influence may be his ability to do the math in millions, whether it’s viewers or dollars. It’s not just that the WNBA has never seen a player change so much in order to achieve her ultimate goal. It’s hard to think of a rookie in any game that has had such an impact on his league.

As Clark and the Indiana Fever wrap up the regular season on Thursday, let’s take a look at each of the ways she changed the WNBA’s bottom line.

Six WNBA networks have set ratings records this season, all by Caitlin Clark

When the WNBA broadcast schedule was announced, the two-time defending champion and title favorite Las Vegas Aces had the second-most nationally televised games in the league with 35. there were the New York Liberty, who are currently atop the standings, with 31. The team with the most: The Fever, with 36.

The Fever may have been the worst team in the East last year, but they had Clark. And if you need an explanation of why that was more important than what the Aces and Liberty had, let’s take a look at the WNBA’s TV partners and their viewership What are they reporting for the WNBA game now:

The Fever also airs games on Prime Video and CBS Sports Network, but ratings numbers are not available for those games.

It’s no surprise that half of the top games involve the Sky, including games on ESPN and CBS, which are now the two most-watched games for the WNBA since 2001. The Sky’s Angel Reese is ranked as the opponent of Clark from their college careers. and the player has had an incredible year herself, until she recently held the WNBA single-season scoring record.

Another fun fact: NBA TV has set the record for viewing a single WNBA game eight different times this season. Clark played in all eight of those games. That Aces-Fever game also won every NBA game online last season.

The Fever have had 90% of their games broadcast nationally this season. It won’t be surprising if that number is 100% next year.

23 WNBA games have drawn more than one million viewers. Clark played in 20 of them

According to Sports Media Watch, before this season, no WNBA game had more than 1 million viewers since 2008. Let’s just say that changed when Clark joined the league.

In 2024, the WNBA saw not one, not two, but 23 games reached seven figures in viewers. Clark participated in all but three of those games.

On the list of the most watched WNBA games this year, you have to go down to No. 15 to get the first game without Fever. That would be the May 18 game between the Los Angeles Sparks and Las Vegas Aces (read: No. 2 pick Cameron Brink’s WNBA debut against defending champions).

Clark’s shadow is clear even in the WNBA for non-Fever games. While the league’s existing fans often like the fit and star cast, sports history has shown the easiest way for the league to build interest among the general audience is through the players. unique. Baseball became popular with Babe Ruth, hockey with Wayne Gretzky, golf with Tiger Woods.

The NBA was in a financial crisis before Magic Johnson and Larry Bird arrived (a comparison many like to throw out to Clark and Reese), and it became a world power with the rise of Michael Jordan. That’s not to say that other NBA players should have given those stars special treatment or publicly thanked them, it’s hard to deny those other players who have seen huge audiences just by being on the same court as a person. which ordinary fans wanted to see.

There are some great WNBA players. For whatever reason – and those reasons have been and will continue to be discovered – Clark is unique in his influence.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark’s career ended in one of the most watched women’s college basketball games

Clark’s career at Iowa already had plenty of records, most notably the NCAA career scoring record, but his final NCAA tournament games were pivotal moments for basketball. women’s college on the side of details.

In the Elite Eight, Iowa’s home game against Reese and LSU broke the viewership record – set by last year’s meeting in the NCAA championship game – with 12.3 million viewers, a basketball game. the most watched college women’s game ever.

In the Final Four, Iowa beat UConn while drawing 14.2 million viewers, making it ESPN’s most-watched basketball game. That’s not ESPN’s most-watched women’s game or the most-watched college game. ESPN, which owns the rights to the NBA and the March Madness games that have been broadcast, is never a basketball game that attracts more viewers. The game also won every game in the NBA Finals and MLB World Series last year, and just five college football games.

And the championship game against South Carolina drew 18.7 million viewers, helped by the move from ESPN to ABC. You might wonder if the WNBA will see similar numbers if the Fever make the playoffs.

The WNBA Draft and All-Star Game broke their viewership records with Caitlin Clark

Prior to 2024, the most watched WNBA Draft was in 2004, when Diana Taurasi entered the league. The show attracted 600,000 viewers.

Clark’s official entrance into the arena attracted 2.45 million, a 374% increase over last year.

It is worth noting that the 2024 draft was stuck behind Clark again, with well-known players such as Brink, Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.

The WNBA All-Star Game — where Clark’s appearance after being cut from Team USA was a major story — did similarly well, drawing 3.44 million viewers. The previous record was a 2003 game with 1.44 million viewers.

So Clark’s presence helped the WNBA double its standards and double the All-Star Game standards.

The fever quadrupled after writing Caitlin Clark

When it came to seating, Clark was on another level.

Last season, when the Fever struggled to a 13-27 record, the team ranked second-last in the WNBA in attendance at 4,067 per game. This season, according to the Indianapolis Star, they led the league in attendance at over 17,000 per game, becoming the first team in WNBA history to draw over 300,000 fans in a season.

That’s more than a 300% increase in attendance year over year, and Clark is the only thing that changed. Furthermore, when you compare it to the Fever’s horrendous 5-31 showing in 2022, when they averaged 1,776 per game, that’s an 857% increase.

Clark was a force on the road, and the Liberty set a WNBA record with over $2 million in ticket revenue from their May 18 game against the Fever. In their regular season finale, the Fever’s road game against the Washington Mystics broke the WNBA attendance record with 20,711 fans.

Caitlin Clark has the best-selling jersey in the WNBA

Does a 1,193% increase sound high?

That was the year-over-year increase in jersey sales Fever reported last month. You can probably guess what the jersey fans were buying.

Sports Business Journal also reported in July that Clark’s jersey was not surprisingly the top seller in the league. The second was Reese. The fourth was Kate Martin, Clark’s Iowa teammate and current Aces reserve.

The WNBA has teams in some of the largest media markets in the United States. The one with the most followers on X is Fever, with over 196,000 followers. They are also the top group on Instagram, with 628,000 followers.

They didn’t rank that high last year. In the week after writing Clark, the team also added more followers on IG than they had in the last three years combined.