NEW YORK — The basketball world can’t get enough of Caitlin Clark and now that the college season is over, next up is the WNBA draft. While there is no drama about whether the Iowa guard will be the top pick, there is excitement about her arrival.
With record ratings for the NCAA championship game and nearly every other game she played this season, Clark is joining the WNBA at the right time. The league has its TV deal expiring at the end of next year and that could lead to a massive new contract for the WNBA.
The WNBA just had its most-watched season in 21 years, averaging 462,000 viewers per game across ABC, ESPN and CBS. The league also had its most-watched Finals in 20 years that featured Las Vegas and New York. It was up 36% from the previous season. The league’s attendance rose 16% – its highest figure since 2018. Throw Clark into the mix and that number could grow exponentially.
“When you’re given an opportunity, women’s sports just kind of thrives,” Clark said. “I think that’s been the coolest thing for me on this journey. We started our season playing in front of 55,000 people in Kinnick Stadium, and now we’re ending it playing in front of probably 15 million people or more on TV. It just continues to get better and better and better. That’s never going to stop.”
Clark has inspired countless young boys and girls to want to watch and attend college basketball games. The WNBA hopes that carries on to her career with the Indiana Fever, who is the expected to make Clark the No. 1 pick in the draft Monday night. There’s no reason to think it won’t as fans traveled across the country to see her play in college as nearly every road game Iowa played was sold out the past two seasons. Two WNBA teams have already moved their games against Indiana to bigger arenas.
“I know her shoulders are heavy because of what she has to give to women’s basketball. I just want to say we’re thankful. We’re thankful that she chose to play basketball,” South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley said. “We’re thankful for the way she’s handled all of it. Her next step is the WNBA – I do think she can be that person that elevates us.”
She certainly will be an attendance boost for the Fever, who were second-to-last in home attendance averaging just over 4,000 fans. The Fever play in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which could hold 20,000 spectators. The team has not released how many tickets it has sold since winning the draft lottery to get the No. 1 pick.
If Monday night’s draft is an indication of excitement, the league sold out of its approximately 1,000 tickets within 15 minutes. The cheapest available ticket on one secondary market topped $165 this week.
FORMER UCONN women’s basketball legend Diana Taurasi says Clark might be in for a little bit of a rude awakening when she gets to the WNBA this summer.
Appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter after Iowa’s 71-69 win over UConn in the Final Four on Friday, Taurasi said WNBA veterans are going to have something to say about Clark and other college stars’ chances at immediate stardom.
“Reality is coming. There’s levels to this thing. And that’s just life, we all went through it. You see it on the NBA side, and you’re going to see it on this side. You look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds, but you’re going to come with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time,” Taurasi said. “Not saying that it’s not going to translate, because when you’re great at what you do, you’re just going to get better. But there is going to be a transition period, where you’re just going to have to give yourself grace as a rookie, and it might take a little bit longer for some people.”
Based on her own career, Taurasi may be slightly overstating the difficulty Clark and other college stars will have when entering the league. The Huskies’ legend averaged 17 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in her rookie season in 2004. She won Rookie of the Year, was first-team All-WNBA and finished third in MVP voting.
Last season’s No. 1 pick, Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, averaged 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds on 57.8% shooting and was named an All-Star, though her Indiana Fever finished 13-27, last place in the East.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.