Caitlin Clark’s impact on ratings were well documented at the collegiate level at Iowa. And early on in her WNBA career with the Indiana Fever, her popularity has certainly translated over nicely.
ESPN VP of Research Flora Kelly took to social media to share that Monday’s matchup between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun on ESPN brought in 1.56 million viewers. This is a 353-percent increase over last year’s average viewership. The game peaked at 2.97 million viewers, making it the most-viewed WNBA game in ESPN history.
Individually on the court, Clark’s game hasn’t exactly translated over as well as some fans hoped. In four games thus far in the WNBA with Indiana, Clark has struggled pretty heavily in comparison to her collegiate production, particularly when it comes to turning the ball over.
Her 26 turnovers in four games marks the most of any player in the WNBA. So there are very clearly some areas that Clark needs to clean up if she wants to emerge as one of the best players in the league. Not to mention that the Fever are 0-4 to start the year.
Despite all of these factors, Clark stardom is absolutely demanding massive audiences at home to turn on WNBA basketball in a truly historic way that no player has ever done before.
For the WNBA, her impact has already been huge. And chances are when she starts to really hit her stride on the court, viewership numbers will only continue to rise even more.
