If you still have any doubt, it’s official: “The Caitlin Clark Effect” is verified.
The superstar rookie of the Indiana Fever has been setting new records for ticket sales, television ratings and merchandise sales. And that’s not all, she’s also been putting up historic numbers on the basketball court. But “The Caitlin Clark Effect” just got elevated even more, as it’s still pulling in crazy TV figures despite taking on the NFL. (RELATED: Rams Place Puka Nacua On Injured Reserve, To Miss At Least Four Games After Aggravating Knee)
The Fever squared off Friday against the Minnesota Lynx, with the contest being broadcasted on Ion. Indiana lost, 99-88.
Up against the Brazil matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles, the game still pulled in a whopping 1.26 million viewers, and ended up becoming the third-most watched contest in WNBA history in terms of broadcasts on Ion.
Friday night’s Indiana Fever-Minnesota Lynx game averaged 1.26 million viewers despite going up against the Eagles-Packers game, per @paulsen_smw.
It’s the 22nd WNBA game this season to cross 1 million viewers, 19 of which have featured Fever star Caitlin Clark 🤯 pic.twitter.com/FsO2lyX2dS
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 9, 2024
This is crazy. I never thought I’d see the day where something legitimately competes with the NFL, let alone the WNBA. But here we are.
And then when you focus solely on Caitlin Clark, you see her mark. Not only is she leaving an impact on women’s basketball and women’s sports, but she’s doing it with sports, period.
Let the hate continue, I guess, but the woman clearly deserves her flowers.