Women’s sports have been a subject of public discrimination for years, and one of the best examples of this comes from the WNBA. Ever since the Women’s National Basketball Association was established in 1996, many viewers have claimed that the games weren’t entertaining, athletic, or interesting, especially in contrast to the popular Men’s NBA. Since 2008, no WNBA game has averaged more than 1 million viewers. Yet in just the 2024 season, 22 games reached over 1 million viewers. What was the common denominator in this random surge of viewership, having 19 of the 22 games with over 1 million viewers? Caitlin Clark, the women’s basketball phenomenon and Time’s Athlete of the Year.
Clark’s fame began in college as an Iowa Hawkeye when she made it to her first national championship, unfortunately losing to the LSU Tigers. People recognized her for the rivalry that ensued with Angel Reese after Reese followed her around the court, taunting Clark. But Clark remained composed and respectful despite Reese’s disrespectful attitude on and off the court, an attitude that carried into the WNBA.
While the rivalry and Clark’s fame were all Reese could hang onto in order to remain in the spotlight at all, Clark pulled away and made a name for herself. Clark became known for her signature shot: a logo three. A logo three meant that Clark would shoot from farther outside the 3-point line, typically from one of the logos on the court. People praised her offensive abilities, which she used to carry a team that had not been to the national championship in 31 years to two national championships in her junior and senior years. Her senior year championship was even the most-watched women’s college basketball game ever with 18.9 million viewers. Despite losing both of them, Clark achieved multiple personal accolades in college, including:
• National Player of the Year
• Big Ten Player of the Year
• AP Player of the Year
• Naismith Player of the Year
• Third all-time in assists in NCAA Division 1 women’s basketball
She was also All-Time Leading Scorer in NCAA Division 1 History for both men’s and women’s basketball, passing Pete Maravich, a record that hadn’t been broken in 54 years.
With her accomplishments, Clark went into the 2024 WNBA season as the No. 1 Overall Pick in the 2024 Draft, which averaged 2.45 million viewers, or a 307% increase from the previous peak in 2004. This was no coincidence, though; it was all Caitlin Clark.
The WNBA draft wasn’t the only surge of viewership during the 2024 season. Every game Clark played seemed to break a WNBA viewership or attendance record. The WNBA, in total, had the highest average attendance since the 1999 season, with 9,807 people attending each game, 48% higher than the previous season. The WNBA was even declared the fastest-growing brand in 2024, according to SportsPro. And while the increase of attendance for all teams was astronomical, the Indiana Fever, Clark’s team, had the largest increase in attendance. Compared to 2023, the Indiana Fever had a 319% attendance increase.
Overall, the Fever had a total home game attendance of 340,715 people in the regular season, setting a new single-season record. To achieve this, the Fever had to average 17,036 attendees per home game, which they did, setting yet another attendance record. Now, if you keep up with WNBA attendance, you may argue that the Washington Mystics were the ones to set the WNBA record for the single most attended game at 20,711 in 2024. But first, you should ask yourself: Who were they playing?
The Indiana Fever.
Coincidence? I think not.
The Washington Mystics’ average attendance through the 2024 season was 6,542 fans per game, so it really is a wonder how they were able to attract an audience of 20,711 people. That is, until you realize they were playing the Indiana Fever, whose average road game attendance during the 2024 season was 15,141; another record, by the way. Many teams experienced this peak in attendance whenever playing the Indiana Fever, though, according to the Sports Business Journal.
For example, the New York Liberty, which had the next highest attendance and was the WNBA Champions for the 2024 season, had its best game in terms of attendance (17,568). This happened while the Liberty played…The Indiana Fever.
The Las Vegas Aces, the WNBA Champions of the 2023 season, had their largest attendance (20,366) while playing…The Indiana Fever.
The Seattle Storm, which had the fourth-highest attendance for the 2024 season, had its highest attendance while playing…The Indiana Fever.
You get the gist. The trend doesn’t stop with these teams. Every WNBA team in the 2024 season had its highest attendance while playing the Indiana Fever, the team that just so happened to have the women’s basketball phenomenon, Caitlin Clark. Interesting…
If this isn’t evidence enough, then maybe a comparison between the Indiana Fever’s previous seasons would help. In the 2023 season, according to Sports Naut, the Indiana Fever had the second-lowest attendance in the WNBA at 4,067 per game. This wasn’t even as bad as the 2022 season, with 1,776 attendees. Overall, despite the 2022-2023 season having 38 home games, the team only had 113,300 people attend its games through the two seasons. So then why, during the 2024 season with 20 home games, did the Fever have 340,715 people attend? Why did the team have more than double the amount of attendance, yet fewer home games?
Because of the 2024 No. 1 Overall Draft Pick: Caitlin Clark.
Coincidence? I think not.
Enough on attendance, though. Clark’s revenue brought to the WNBA is another perfect encapsulation of what she has done for women’s sports.
Jersey sales are a large indicator of how much impact an athlete has on the public. And Clark is no exception. After the 2024 WNBA season and the MNBA season, in the fall of 2024, the sports outfitter Fanatics recorded that Clark’s jersey was the 2nd best selling jersey between both leagues. Its sales were trailing only Steph Curry’s, who has had the top-selling jersey for 11 consecutive seasons. On Clark’s draft night, her Indiana Fever jersey sold out in less than an hour, too, setting a record for the top-selling jersey on draft night in WNBA history.
During the WNBA season, Clark also launched a partnership with Wilson Basketball. She was the second player to ever do so, alongside Michael Jordan, and the first female player. The collection that was first released included the Caitlin Clark EVO NXT 3951 Game Basketball, Caitlin Clark WNBA Ascent Basketball, and the Caitlin Clark Repetition Basketball. This set of basketballs sold out in roughly 40 minutes on Sept. 11, 2024.
Lastly, for individual impact on revenue, Clark did exceptionally well with her rookie cards. Most WNBA cards have remained cheap. Even superstars like A’ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu seem not to do as well with their WNBA cards, especially after the decline of interest in them. But, a renewed interest in collector cards for sports has led to Clark’s WNBA rookie card to sell for $660,000 at a Fanatics Collect Premier Auction. It’s a 2024 Panini Flawless WNBA Platinum Rookie Logowoman Patch Auto 1/1 card, with Clark’s signature. Therefore, Clark has officially broken the record for the most expensive women’s sports card ever, surpassing tennis superstar Serena Williams, whose card in 2022 sold for $266,400.
With all that Clark has brought in through revenue, she would account for 26.5% of the WNBA’s economic activity in the 2024 season. Merchandise sales rose 500% with Clark at the top. The Fever’s attendance and sales helped bring in $9.1 million for their organization in the 2024 season. Viewership was up 300%, with Clark leading the way. Every game she participated in averaged 1.2 million people watching, 200% more than the games she wasn’t playing in. Through all of her sales, in or out of the WNBA, the revenue Clark has brought in for multiple organizations is unmatched, showing just how important she is to every business she touches, and the WNBA is no exception.
No real argument can be made against Clark’s impact on the popularity of the WNBA. But what some people do try to argue about is how deserving Clark is of all this attention. And to that one would say: Very, very deserving.
Clark’s college achievements have already been mentioned, and it is undeniable that Clark is one of, if not the, best college basketball player in history, female or male. And now, Clark can be considered to have had the greatest rookie season in WNBA history. Clark broke record after record after record in her first season. As Nike said in a poster about Clark, “Is there a rookie record for breaking rookie records?”
If there is, Clark definitely has it.
Here are just a few of the larger records Clark broke in her 2024 rookie season, according to ESPN:
• First WNBA rookie to get a triple-double
• First WNBA rookie to get two triple-doubles
• First player to record a triple-double in Fever franchise history
• WNBA single-season rookie record for three-pointers (122)
• WNBA single-season record for assists (337)
• WNBA single-game record for assists (19)
• Most assists by a rookie in a WNBA All-Star Game
• Most points by a rookie in a WNBA season (769)
• Most double-doubles by a rookie guard
In total, Clark broke 62 records in her rookie WNBA season.
Clark capped off her first pro season by winning Time’s Athlete of the Year. Along with that, she was also recognized for:
• WNBA First All Team
• WNBA All-Rookie Team
• 1st player to be named Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month in the same month
• 4x Rookie of the Month
• 3x Eastern Conference Player of the Week
• WNBA All-Star Starter
• Only Player with More than 700,000 votes for the All-Star Game (most votes ever)
• 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year
Clark isn’t just an influential player; she’s a great basketball player. Her skill speaks for itself as she conquers the court, helping carry the Indiana Fever to their first playoffs since 2016. Even though they lost the first round to the Suns, this team has shown its potential with Clark. And in the 2025 season, the Fever officially became 2025 Championship contenders.
The WNBA has faced ridicule for years, and even now, critics continue to call the league a quote unquote, “joke”. But times have changed, and the women’s sports world is changing rapidly. Women have begun to gain the respect they deserve, but no one deserves it more than Caitlin Clark. Clark’s attendance, revenue, and basketball skills sum up how perfectly she deserves praise. She has transformed the WNBA’s image. No one in the league is more influential than her; she has brought so many people to follow the WNBA — people who hadn’t even known it existed before Clark, people such as myself. She’s a perfect role model on and off the court, influencing young girls around the world to be confident in their own skin. No one has been more influential than her in the past years, and she is sure to influence more men and women in the years to come. Caitlin Clark has single-handedly changed perspectives on women’s sports around the world. For good.
