Women’s Basketball has always had a certain level of quality, but it has also been plagued by fundamental problems such as low player salaries, poor marketing strategies of the league and a lack of interest from sponsors. Even if these issues have not been definitively overcome, there has been a growing interest in the league in recent years. Of course, this is triggered by the growing popularity of women’s college basketball. For these reasons, both leagues have seen an increase in viewership and attendance.
In recent years, one player continues to make a big contribution to the popularization of this sport; Caitlin Clark. The final of the NCAA Women’s College Basketball tournament was played between Iowa and South Carolina on March 10 and South Carolina won the championship. Caitlin Clark had 30 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, but couldn’t lead her team to the championship. Last year’s final had a similar result. Clark, a one-woman team, gave her all but couldn’t lead her team to the championship.
It also resulted in what has been described as the Caitlin Clark effect. While last year’s tournament final reached 9 million viewers, this year’s viewership exceeded 18 million. Recently, the WNBA 2024 Draft also took place. Caitlin Clark was almost certain to be the number one pick and was selected by the Indiana Fever. This draft reached a total of 2.5 million viewers. These two events have been described by the American public as the Caitlin Clark effect, which has been popular since high school and is expected to be a future star.
Coming from a family of athletes, it didn’t take long for Clark to start making a name for herself with hard discipline and hard work, as well as local support. Since her arrival at the University of Iowa, she has launched a career that could change women’s basketball. In her four-year Iowa career, she scored 3951 points, 548 three-pointers, 1144 assists, 990 rebounds and 210 steals. She finished her college career averaging 28.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.2 rebounds. She won AP Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year honors twice. She led the team in scoring and assists three times each. And many more statistics and career milestones are already in her career.
Her playing style and even his shooting style has been compared to Stephen Curry, one of the legends of men’s basketball. Yes, she doesn’t shoot from deep, but despite this different style, she makes a big difference with his great shooting percentage. Also, his ability to read the court well, direct the passing traffic, make the best use of the ball in transition, and be an exceptional pick and roll operator are the proofs of why he will be the most important player in this game. In subjective terms, she is a fusion of Maya Moore and Sabrina Ionescu, two of the most important names in women’s basketball. She also says in many interviews that she looks up to Lebron James and Kevin Durant.
Caitlin Clark’s impact has been both dominant on the court and in the spotlight off the court from an early age. It’s not easy to have such an influential profile in team sports, but she has already proved to be an icon in the American public eye, drawing many viewers into the arena and into the seats. With the new season, media outlets are predicting that the WNBA’s viewership will increase even more with the Caitlin Clark effect. While her sponsorship and advertising deals with many brands, especially Nike, continue to be on the agenda, it is also agreed that she is already one of the new faces of the sport.