The Caitlin Clark effect

[Mosby]

The WNBA has released a report saying...

• Attendance is up 156% from last year, and more than half of all WNBA games this year have been sellouts.

• About 400,000 fans have attended WNBA games this season, filling WNBA arenas to 94% capacity.

• This year's televised games (ABC, ESPN, etc.) are averaging 1.32 million viewers, nearly triple last season's average of 462,000.

• WNBA Countdown is averaging 741,000 viewers, a 211% increase from last year's full season average.

• The WNBA's online merchandise store has already set a single-season sales record (with 4+ months left in the season), and sales are up 756% compared to last year.

• The WNBA's social channels garnered 157 million video views through the first week of the season, an all-time high and up 380% compared to last year.

• The WNBA set an all-time high for League Pass subscriptions last month with a 355% increase vs. last season.

So, in simple terms, business is booming

Link to tweet

To be fair, it's not all because of Caitlin Clark, this rookie draft class is by far the best in years.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

1. A lot of it is her though

Angel Reese made the point that Clark wasn't the only reason, and that she herself was also responsible for the larger crowds. But it was immediately pointed out that the games w/ Clark sold out, and the ones with only Reese were barely half full.
There's a lot of ugliness amidst the WNBA growth right now and race is being injected into it in awful ways from both directions.

[Sneederbunk]

2. Ugliness and a whole lot of jealousy.