The Caitlin Clark effect is the impact that American basketball player Caitlin Clark is reported to have on the popularity of women's basketball. Publications have used the term since Clark's collegiate career with the Iowa Hawkeyes, in which she drew unprecedented public interest to the sport. In 2023 and 2024, during her final two seasons at Iowa, her games set several attendance and television viewership records. After Clark was drafted by the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), analysts credited the Caitlin Clark effect for increases in WNBA attendance and viewership.
Clark drew national attention as a junior for Iowa during 2023 NCAA tournament, where she set tournament records in points and three-pointers while helping her team achieve a runner-up finish. USA Today reporter Lindsay Schnell noted that Clark became a "household name" due to her play during the tournament. [1] The 2023 national championship game set the women's college basketball viewership record with 9.9 million viewers. [2] The Athletic writer Richard Deitsch wrote that Clark drew casual viewers to the title game, in part due to her long-range three-point shooting. [3] Entering Clark's senior season in 2023–24, local media attributed increases in Iowa ticket sales to the "Caitlin Clark effect". [4] [5] During the 2023–24 season, the term was used by many publications, including BBC News, The Washington Post and USA Today , to describe Clark's general impact on the popularity of women's basketball, as measured by ticket prices, attendance and television viewership, among other factors. [6] [7] [8]
Clark drove historic levels of television viewership during her final two seasons at Iowa. At the conclusion of her college career, she was proclaimed the "GOAT of TV Ratings" by The Wall Street Journal , which wrote that her impact on television viewership exceeded any other modern athlete. [9] The 2023 national championship game, which featured Clark, was the most-watched women's college basketball game in history, averaging 9.9 million viewers. [2] On March 3, 2024, her game against Ohio State, in which she surpassed Pete Maravich to become the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer, averaged 3.39 million viewers. It was the most-watched women's regular season college basketball game on Fox and on any network since 1999. [10] [11] Clark's first three games in the 2024 NCAA tournament each became the most-viewed women's college basketball games prior to the Final Four. [12] [13] [14] Her Elite Eight game against LSU (12.3 million), which was a rematch of the 2023 national title game, and her Final Four contest against UConn (14.2 million) each broke the women's college basketball viewership record. [15] [16] The 2024 national championship game, where Clark played against South Carolina, again set the women's college basketball viewership record with 18.9 million viewers and was the most-watched basketball game since 2019. It was the first NCAA women's basketball title game to outdraw the men's title game. [17] [18]
Clark continued to set viewership records upon entering the WNBA. The 2024 WNBA draft, where the Indiana Fever selected Clark with the first overall pick, averaged 2.45 million viewers, the most in WNBA draft history. It was also the most-watched WNBA telecast since 2000. [19] Clark's regular season debut against the Connecticut Sun on May 14, 2024, was the most-watched WNBA game since 2002 and the most-watched ever on ESPN2 or any cable network. [20] [21] On May 18, her game against the New York Liberty set the league's ABC viewership record with 1.71 million viewers. [22] In the following week, Clark's games set WNBA viewership marks on ESPN, Ion and NBA TV. [21]
Clark has driven increases in home and away attendance for her games. [23] Entering her senior season, her Iowa team sold out all of its home games for the first time, after previously selling out only three regular season games in program history. [24] On October 15, 2023, Iowa held a preseason exhibition game against DePaul at Kinnick Stadium, which set the women's basketball single-game attendance record at 55,646. [25] Iowa sold out or set an attendance record in all but two regular season games, both at the Gulf Coast Showcase during the Thanksgiving weekend. [26] Her November 9 game against Virginia Tech, held at a neutral site in Charlotte, North Carolina, had the highest attendance (15,196) for any women's college basketball game in state history. [27] Teams that reported attendance records while hosting Iowa included Wisconsin (14,252), [28] Ohio State (18,660), [29] , and Nebraska (15,042), [30] and Northwestern recorded its first sellout against the Hawkeyes. [31] Iowa set the Big Ten single-season average attendance record (14,998), surpassing its own mark from the previous season (11,143). [32] Her regular season finale against Ohio State, in which she passed Maravich as the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer, was the most expensive women's college basketball game of all time, with an average ticket price of $408. [33] The 2024 Big Ten tournament, where Clark led her team to the title, sold out for the first time in event history. [34] The Common Sense Institute Iowa, an economic research organization, estimated in March 2024 that the Caitlin Clark effect increased Iowa's gross domestic product by between $14.4 million and $52.3 million, while generating about $82.5 million in consumer spending. [35]
Before Clark's first season with the Indiana Fever, a study led by Michael J. Hicks of Ball State University estimated that Clark would bring over $2.4 million to central Indiana and draw 26,000 more fans to Fever games. [36] During her first month in the WNBA, the Los Angeles Sparks (19,103), New York Liberty (17,735) and Seattle Storm (18,343) each set attendance records while hosting her Fever team. [37] [38] [39] The Sparks, Las Vegas Aces, Washington Mystics and Atlanta Dream moved home games against the Fever to larger arenas to accommodate public interest in Clark. [40] Her game against the Mystics on June 7, 2024, which was moved to the Capital One Arena, had an attendance of 20,333, the most for a WNBA game since the 2007 WNBA Finals and the fifth-most for a regular season game. [41]
The role of Clark's identity in the Caitlin Clark effect has drawn scrutiny. [42] [43] The Athletic columnist Jim Trotter wrote that Clark appeals to a wider audience by being white, straight and from the United States heartland, in contrast to many WNBA players. [44] The Atlantic writer Jemele Hill, USA Today reporter Lindsay Schnell and WNBA star A'ja Wilson have also highlighted the racial component of her popularity and the inequity in media coverage of Black female athletes. [42] [45] [46] USA Today columnist Christine Brennan wrote that Clark's popularity was not media-driven, but rather "grew organically from the heartland to the coasts" due to her style of play. [47]
Clark's ability to attract public interest and connect with fans has been likened to American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. [48] [49] Her fans have been nicknamed Clarkies, in reference to Swift's fanbase of Swifties. [23] The Caitlin Clark effect has also been compared to the rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, which helped popularize men's basketball in the 1980s. [50]
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league based in the United States. It is composed of 12 teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA), and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from May to September, with the All-Star game being played midway through the season in July and the WNBA Finals at the end of September until the beginning of October.
The WNBA on ESPN refers to the presentation of Women's National Basketball Association games on the ESPN family of networks. Under the title of WNBA Tuesday, games are broadcast throughout the WNBA season on Tuesday nights on ESPN2.
Lisa Marie Bluder is the former head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball program. Formerly, she served as coach of St. Ambrose University and the Drake Bulldogs.
The Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team represents the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The team plays its regular season games at 15,400-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena, along with men's basketball, wrestling, and volleyball teams.
A'ja Riyadh Wilson is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Wilson played for the South Carolina Gamecocks in college, and helped lead the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Women's Basketball Championship in 2017, and won the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award. In 2018, she won a record third straight SEC Player of the Year award, leading South Carolina to a record fourth straight SEC Tournament Championship, becoming the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina women's basketball history, and was a consensus first-team All-American for the third consecutive season. Wilson swept all National Player of the Year awards as the best player in Women's College basketball for 2018. In the 2018 WNBA draft, she was drafted first overall by the Aces.
Chennedy Carter is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Texas A&M Aggies. Carter was chosen fourth overall in the 2020 WNBA draft by the Atlanta Dream.
Aliyah Boston is an American professional basketball power forward and center for the Indiana Fever of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was named 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year in a unanimous vote and the AP Rookie of the Year. She played college basketball at the University of South Carolina.
Caitlin Clark is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes and is regarded as one of the greatest collegiate players of all time. Clark is the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer and was a two-time national player of the year with the Hawkeyes. Since her college career, she has helped popularize women's basketball, a trend known as the "Caitlin Clark effect." She was selected first overall by the Fever in the 2024 WNBA draft.
Andraya Nichole Carter is an analyst and reporter for ESPN/SEC Network coverage of college basketball, college football, and the WNBA. She was a co-host for Out of Pocket with Alyssa Lang until 2023. She started working as a sideline reporter for the NBA on ESPN in 2023.
Nika Mühl is a Croatian professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball as a point guard for the UConn Huskies. Twice named Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year while in college, Mühl is UConn's all-time leader in career assists, with 686, and also holds the program records for most assists in a single season and in a single game. She was selected 14th overall by Seattle in the 2024 WNBA draft.
The 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 41st edition of the tournament began on March 15, 2023, and concluded on April 2 with the championship game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a 68-team single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 42nd edition of the tournament began on March 20, 2024, and concluded with the championship game on April 7, 2024 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
Angel Reese is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at LSU and Maryland. Reese attended Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was awarded McDonald's All-American honors in 2020 and was ranked the number two player in her class by ESPN.
The 2022–23 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team represented the University of Iowa during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Hawkeyes were led by head coach Lisa Bluder in her twenty-third season, and played their home games at Carver–Hawkeye Arena as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
The 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game was the final game of the 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. It determined the national champion for the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season and was contested by the Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten Conference and the Louisiana State (LSU) Tigers from the Southeastern Conference. The game was played on April 2, 2023, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. In the game, LSU defeated Iowa 102–85 to win their first national championship, setting a record for most points scored by a team in an NCAA women's basketball championship game. LSU's Angel Reese recorded a double-double and was voted the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) of the Final Four.
The Law Firm of Clark and Czinano, also known as The Law Firm, were a duo of college basketball players consisting of Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano, who both played for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 2020 to 2023. Developed under head coach Lisa Bluder, they were one of the top duos in NCAA Division I, leading Iowa to the 2023 national championship game, two Big Ten tournament titles and one Big Ten regular season title.
The 2023–24 Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team represented the University of Iowa during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Hawkeyes were led by head coach Lisa Bluder in her twenty-fourth season, and played their home games at Carver–Hawkeye Arena as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
The 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game was the final game of the 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. It determined the champion of the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season and was contested by the Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten Conference and the South Carolina Gamecocks from the Southeastern Conference. The game was played on April 7, 2024, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. South Carolina defeated Iowa 87–75 to capture the third national championship in program history. Iowa finished as runner-up for the second season in a row.
Kate Martin is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes. She was selected in the second round by the Aces in the 2024 WNBA draft.