Caitlin Clark, the trailblazer transcending women's sport

Clark shattered college basketball records and takes her stardom to the pro leagues with the Indiana Fever.

Every so often, the cream rises to the top in sport and the game they inhabit is never the same again. Tiger, Jordan, Roger, Billie-Jean. For women’s basketball, that name is Caitlin Clark.

On Monday night, Clark was drafted first overall to the WNBA having achieved superstar status in college with the Iowa Hawkeyes, elevating the game to stratospheric levels in America.

Now, she enters the professional game and a league that is in dire need of a superstar figure to take the product to the next level. Where the men’s side have Steph Curry and LeBron James and newcomers like Zion Williamson and Victor Wembanyama creating highlight reels night after night, the Indiana Fever welcome Clark to the fold and into a league that is ready to capitalize on what she brings to the table.

The force of Caitlin Clark has totally transcended not only college basketball, but sport as a whole in America, as she quickly became a household name in the past twelve months. She has put the women’s game on par and above men’s sport in terms of a television draw. Per ESPN, an average of 18.7 million viewers tuned into her farewell game against South Carolina earlier this month, the most watched basketball game at any level since 2019, and the most watched sporting event outside of American football or the Olympics in that same period.

The “Caitlin Clark Effect” began during Iowa’s 2023 run to the championship game, amassing a then record 9.9 million viewers in their loss to LSU. In that time, a rivalry had brewed between Clark and LSU star Angel Reese, drawing even more eyes and attention to the game as word of what Clark was doing developed, a heated on-court rivalry with one of the other big names in the sport only added to her lore. That rivalry will continue in the big leagues after Reese was drafted to the Chicago Sky.

Her rise coincided with the recent easing of the NIL restrictions (Name, Image, Likeness), where for the first time the NCAA allowed student athletes to profit from their name, allowing Clark and her teammates to benefit from the massive revenues suddenly swarming around college women’s basketball.

That all set the stage for the 2024 campaign, as records shattered after every game Clark was involved in, culminating in the 2024 finale drawing nearly double the numbers of the prior year’s game. One thing is for certain—Clark is a huge, unprecedented television draw.

Many names in the past have been an instant TV draw, spiking figures to almost unsustainable levels before quickly dropping off. The period of “Linsantiy” at the New York Knicks when Jeremy Lin went on his hot streak in 2012 was a huge ratings grabber, while in the college game, periods through Johnny Manziel and more recently Deion Sanders’ coaching exploits were hits with sports fans.

With Clark, however, this looks likely to sustain itself as she enters the pro game.

The WNBA averaged 505,000 viewers across the 2023 season, up 21% from the year before. That number is likely to rise exponentially again with Clark in the league, plying her trade for the Fever. Ticket interest has already sky rocketed seeing a 183% rise in prices. There is only one show in town and it’s Caitlin Clark.

On draft night, after her name was called to the Hawkeyes, her jersey sold out in a matter of minutes on retailer Fanatics, with reports saying it was the biggest selling draft night jersey of all time, across any sport—including the NFL—beating Trevor Lawrence’s Jacksonville Jaguars shirt in 2021.

The 22-year-old has been a phenom on the court in her four years in Iowa, winning two player of the years award and obliterating the all-time points record in the NCAA Division I. Drawing comparisons to Steph Curry, Clark is famed for her three-point shooting, delivering from a range and with a proficiency rarely seen in the women’s game.

She shattered records on the court for points and assists, filled arenas around the country and made women’s college basketball a nationwide televised event. It is pretty hard to comprehend how much of a superstar she has become and how that stardom has transcended the game, putting her exploits on the same front page headlines alongside many of the big names that have dominated the men’s games for years. She made headlines around the world on Tuesday morning, including in the Irish news space. For young aspiring basketball and sports fans looking for inspiration in the realm of women’s sport, Clark has rapidly become that figurehead.

Indianapolis is totally ready for her arrival. 6,000 people turned out for a draft night party celebrating her selection, while billboards and video displays around the state are emblazoned with her name and number.

Now, the WNBA need to capitalize on the Clark Effect that will grip the league. Crowds will come, televisions will be dialed in and the league needs to be ready for the rising tide that it lifts all boats across the league. The salary Clark will be on has been widely commented upon after the draft, which brought attention to the monumental disparity in terms of revenue in the WNBA versus other professional counterparts. That needs to change and if Clark can deliver on her potential, and more money can be generated throughout the league, these figures need to rise.

On draft night, Clark was decked out head-to-toe in Prada. She has no shortage of sponsorship opportunities and will be a powerful face in the world of marketing and endorsements. Nike are sniffing around and there is talk of her getting her own shoe brand, following the path forged by Curry and LeBron.

Clark is not simply becoming a leader in the realm of women’s sport, she is going far beyond that.