Few players are able to transcend not just a single sport but the entire sports universe like former Iowa Hawkeyes legend and current WNBA point guard Caitlin Clark is doing.
The star guard for the Indiana Fever is must-see TV, entering just her second year in the WNBA, and is such a draw that fans are flocking to WNBA games with ratings that the league and networks have never seen before.
As reported by Jon Hoefling of USA TODAY Sports, the Fever’s preseason game against the Brazilian national team at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Caitlin Clark’s return drew ratings on ESPN that are better than 55/57 NBA preseason games on the network since 2010.
According to Flora Kelly, ESPN’s vice president of research, only two of the 57 NBA games ESPN has televised since 2010 have matched those numbers, both of which featured Los Angeles Lakers’ star LeBron James. – Hoefling, USA TODAY Sports
This isn’t a new trend for Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, though. Last year, she was consistently drawing over one million viewers, a threshold that the WNBA was previously unable to attain.
Clark not only gets ratings on television as well, but she is forcing WNBA teams to move their games against her to larger arenas due to ticket demands of fans wanting to see her in person.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7
This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever WNBA preseason game surpasses NBA ratings on ESPN
Reporting by Riley Donald, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
