Caitlin Clark was one of the most famous college basketball players this past year. She was breaking records not only in on-court statistics but viewership records as well. Starting from the Elite 8 until the national championship, she was massing millions of viewers. Sadly she came up short in the National NCAA Women’s Basketball, her eyes were set on the WNBA. Clark was drafted 1st overall on Monday, April 25th, to the Indiana Fever. This will now be the start of her professional career and the WNBA doesn’t mass the nearly the amount of viewers that Clark drew in for the NCAA Women’s March Madness tournament. With that being said does her fame and exciting play cause a shift in viewership for the WNBA?
Is this the start of a rising popularity in the WNBA?
Many know that WNBA viewership isn’t where it should be to support their players. With this in mind, all it takes is an exciting player to amass a following and create excitement. Caitlin Clark did just that in college but will it translate to the WNBA? There have been plenty of star women’s college basketball players that have been hyped up or had some following. But never did they create such an interest as Clark did. But she did not do it alone with many players like Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith, who also have massed a pretty big following. These exciting players have brought viewership to women’s college basketball, with what I believe the start being LSU winning the National Championship in 2023. The drama that occurred caused many media outlets to pick it up. Both teams then played each other again in the Elite 8 which massed around 12.3 million viewers. This time Clark beat Reese and advanced to play UConn in the final 4, who she would end up beating as well on a controversial final call. This being said the exciting way Clark plays created discussions amongst sports fans, wanting to see if Clark would come out on top in the national championship. Ultimately she came up short in the National Championship but like Clark fashion, she created buzz in the WNBA draft being selected number one overall.
WNBA Needs to Use Clark as the Poster Girl
The WNBA has a chance to attract new fans and viewers. But they need to really cling to the fame of Clark and learn how to use her image and likeness as a way to bring in viewers. Although they haven’t had a prospect quite like her they can easily mess this up. Clark brings exciting play and needs to learn to attract a market through her. Chances are Clark will sell out a few arenas and things will get quiet in the middle of the season, but the WNBA should hope that Clark makes it to the playoffs. The playoffs are a key opportunity to attract viewers and create excitement. The NCAA women’s tournament did this perfectly. But they used Clark’s record-setting season as a way to attract viewers. Many people were curious how this girl claimed the all-time NCAA scoring record for both men’s and women’s basketball so they tuned in. And the media made sure she was the main talking point and focus point. So the WNBA should silence Clark but instead make her even more reachable. The only issue is that excitement and hype die quickly in this current age of media and technology. Clark will always be a well-known name, but the NCAA had rarer opportunities due to the fact Clark was breaking so many records. She also so happened to be at a school with an extremely loyal fanbase, who would travel to all her games no matter the distance. Finally, I believe that there won’t nearly be as much viewership for the WNBA even if Clark makes the WNBA finals. It simply doesn’t garner the interest of the youth as much as it should. The biggest factor that caused the hype around the NCAA Women’s March Madness was the younger generations talking about these players through social media. But I am excited to see if I am wrong and what the future holds for Clark and the WNBA.