Caitlin Clark

[celticsclay]

I must admit I have never watched more than a few minutes of a WNBA game just flipping through channels. I guess I watched Sue Bird a little bit at the very end of her career. I tuned on today to see what the Caitlin Clark fuss was about (I did watch some womens college basketball this past year). Anyone else watching this at all or interested? She is having a very nice first quarter and has already hit a few threes (maybe 3?).

[ozgod]

I've been following her career since last season, not super closely but I made a point to read up on how Iowa did this past season and I've been reading up on how she's been doing in the WNBA. It's obviously a step up in quality from college ball and she's struggling a little with the increased defensive intensity and been turning the ball over but I think she will figure it out 

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I must admit I have never watched more than a few minutes of a WNBA game just flipping through channels. I guess I watched Sue Bird a little bit at the very end of her career. I tuned on today to see what the Caitlin Clark fuss was about (I did watch some womens college basketball this past year). Anyone else watching this at all or interested? She is having a very nice first quarter and has already hit a few threes (maybe 3?).

dony watch college basketball?mens but not womens?  if not i understand. we(LSU women) beat her in the natty last year and she played again this year and lost to carolina. she is a great shooter and player.

i am always watching girls softball because i have coached it forever and have a couple girls who still play/played. so i do watch some girls roundball as well in case you were wondering why i like CERTAIN womens sports since i am a man . lol.

[Phantom255x]

I will say, the new rookie class (Clark, Brink, Reese, Jackson, etc.) have really added a ton of buzz into the WNBA which is great for the sport and women's sports in general. I don't remember the WNBA or even women's college hoops having this much buzz and excitement.

It's been an adjustment for Clark for sure, but that Indiana team needs a lot more help around her. I saw some of today's game and I mean, she balled out but the team fell behind by 20+ very early on.

[Goldstar88]

Clark vs Taurasi on ESPN right now.

*Update: Indiana Fever win, 88-82. Clark finishes with 15pts/12ast/9rebs. Taurasi had 19pts/3ast/3rebs.

[Goldstar88]

The Indian Fever beat the 1st place New York Liberty 83-78 earlier today. Caitlin Clark finished with 19pts, 13ast, 12rebs which is the first triple double by a rookie in WNBA history.

[Goldstar88]

WNBA regular-season attendance was up 48% over the 2023 season, the league announced Friday.

The WNBA averaged 9,807 fans per game in 2024, a hefty increase from last season's 6,615 per game.

The league said 2,353,735 fans attended WNBA games, the most in 22 years, and the teams combined for 154 sellouts this season after having just 45 in 2023.

Three games drew more than 20,000 fans, including a record 20,711 when the Caitlin Clark-led Indiana Fever visited the Washington Mystics on Sept. 19. The other two games also involved the Fever: 20,366 against the Las Vegas Aces on July 2 and 20,333 versus the Mystics on June 7.

The impact of rookie Clark was a big reason for the increased interest in the league. The Fever set a single-season home attendance record of 340,715 fans, breaking the mark of 250,565 set by the New York Liberty in 2001.

The league also said a record 22 regular-season telecasts averaged at least 1 million viewers.

[Neurotic Guy]

Clark vs Taurasi on ESPN right now.

*Update: Indiana Fever win, 88-82. Clark finishes with 15pts/12ast/9rebs. Taurasi had 19pts/3ast/3rebs.

Diana Taurasi still plays?

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I'm not a WNBA fan/follower, but it seems inarguable to me that Caitlin Clark has been great for that league, and one of the best things to ever happen to it. I really don't understand why some people have a beef with her. She's a great player and doesn't seem arrogant.

[Goldstar88]

Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever drawing larger home crowds and higher viewership than the Pacers

The Fever averaged 17,036 fans in 20 games last year, slightly higher than the 16,718 for the Pacers during the 2024/25 regular season. According to TickPick, the average purchase price for Fever tickets ahead of the 2025 season was $149, up from $79 last year. That?s more expensive than the average purchase price of both the Pacers regular-season games ($72) and first two playoff rounds ($131). National TV ratings are comparable: The Pacers averaged 1.08 million viewers across nine regular-season games on ESPN and TNT this year, a number the Fever passed for 18 regular-season games last year. The Fevers season opener last Friday against the Sky drew 2.7 million viewers on ABC, the most-watched WNBA game ever on ESPN platforms, and more than any Pacers regular-season game this year. via Front Office Sports

[Goldstar88]

Cunningham says critics of teammate Caitlin Clark don't just come from the stands or via social media, either. There is a resentment from players in the league that the seventh-year guard finds abhorrent.

"It p---es me off when people are like, 'She's not the face of the league.' What?" Cunningham said on her new podcast, "Show Me Something." "There's really good, well-known people in our league. I'm not discrediting them. We have a lot of badasses in our league. Hell yeah to that. I'm all for that. But when people try to argue that she's not the face of our league or our league would be where we're at without her, you're dumb as s---. You're literally dumb as f---."

Cunningham was with the Phoenix Mercury last season, when Clark was a rookie, and said teammates planned to zero in on the young star player.

"I know the talks Phoenix had in their locker room of, like, 'We're going to show her what the W really is,'" Cunningham said. "I get it to a certain extent. Every rookie coming into the league, that's how you're going to treat them. But there's just more for her. It's her second year. Now being on her team and seeing it, I'm like, 'What are people doing?' It's just too much."

Clark has been limited to just 13 games because of multiple leg injuries and her 16.5 points per game are below her 19.2 mark over 40 games last season when she was named WNBA Rookie of the Year.

But within those 13 games was a matchup with Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky that drew 2.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA game in 25 years. Teams in smaller home arenas also move their games to bigger arenas for matchups with Clark and the Fever.

"This is what we've always wanted as a league so like, who cares who gets the credit," Cunningham said. "And if you're smart [you know] you're making money off them. ... Just be nice. Why can't people be nice?"

[Moranis]

They need to stop injuring her. That league needs her so badly.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Cunningham is stating the obvious, but I think she's the only WNBA player doing that.

[Goldstar88]

They need to stop injuring her. That league needs her so badly.

Cunningham is stating the obvious, but I think she's the only WNBA player doing that.

Agreed!