The Indiana Fever sensation has been widely credited with the WNBA’s popularity spike in 2024.
The New York Liberty‘s owner credits Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese for bring a new era of attention and prosperity to the WNBA by hailing their reputations as talented basketballers from even before they entered the league.
Clark, who claimed the Rookie of the Year award, has been the most discussed name throughout her debut season even going on to eclipse the MVP, A’ja Wilson, in that regard following the insane hype she had through college.
But she wasn’t the only one earning plaudits. The LSU Tigers’ Reese was just as highly regarded and the pair created drama together by beginning a rivalry that has carried on through to professional basketball, only adding more storylines for the league, which is something Clara Wu Tsai praised.
“Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, Cameron Brink a lot of these players became household names, even before they entered the draft,” Wu Tsai told CNN. “They are a highly skilled rookie class and brought a lot of attention and eyeballs to the WNBA.”
Then an Iowa Hawkeye, Clark shattered the NCAA’s women’s, and later overall, points scoring records as she led her side to two Division I finals and became known for her prowess as a shooting machine, capable of sinking baskets from anywhere on the court.
Arenas were packed out with thousands in a bid to watch her shoot her “logo threes” and that’s translated to the WNBA as the Indiana Fever manage to sell out their matches at the Gainbridge FieldHouse, home of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, too.
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“That kind of basketball people want to see, and they want to see it in person. It is because of her and the entire rookie class that we saw such an upswing in viewership.”
WNBA viewership spikes
Following the social media hype, it’s no surprise that the WNBA has enjoyed a spike in viewership and attendances across the entire league following the talents of Clark, Reese, Brink and other rookies such as Cardoso.
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ESPN reports that across their websites and streaming services, they saw a 170% spike in viewership and traffic between 2023 and 2024, whilst the WNBA averaged 1.19 million viewers per game.
The top level of women’s professional basketball also saw the highest league attendance since the 2002 season, with a 54% increase from 2023 and 154 sold out games from some 2.3 million fans.
