Everyone by now knows about the Caitlin Clark effect. The Indiana Fever star has become the face of the WNBA’s explosion in popularity, whether people want to admit it or not. Her rookie year in 2024 saw TV viewership rise by 300%, league-wide attendance rise by 48%, merchandise sales rise by 601%…and the list goes on.

And just when you think you’ve seen every sign of her star power, something new pops up to remind you just how massive Caitlin Clark’s impact really is.

According to WNBA writer Miles Ehrlich, Caitlin Clark is the most-viewed WNBA player in both the United States and Canada, with the Indiana Fever ranking as the most-watched team in the country. All of the data was sourced directly from Basketball Reference.

Caitlin Clark’s popularity stretches across nearly the entire country. Data shows she’s the most-viewed WNBA player in 40 of the 50 states, dominating the national conversation everywhere from the Midwest to the coasts. Angel Reese, meanwhile, holds her own in several key regions. She leads in Alabama, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Texas, South Dakota and Tennessee, which makes perfect sense given her ties to LSU, Chicago, and her home state of Maryland.

When you look at the data from Canada, Clark dominates there as well. The only major exceptions are Napheesa Collier, who leads in the massive territory of Nunavut, which has just 36,858 residents according to the 2021 census, and Angel Reese, who leads the Northwest Territories. A region that includes Dehcho, North Slave, Sahtu, South Slave and Inuvik.

To really understand how popular Caitlin Clark is, you need to look at this: the Fever aren’t just the most popular WNBA team in the country — they’re also the most popular team in the state of Illinois, where the Chicago Sky superstar Reese is easily the most popular player. If Clark’s team is still No. 1 in a state that loves Reese that much, it tells you everything you need to know about the Caitlin Clark effect.

But interestingly, Clark’s popularity has dipped slightly compared to 2024. Last year’s Basketball Reference data showed complete domination. She was the most-viewed WNBA player in all 50 U.S. states and across all of Canada. This year, that number has dropped by 10 states and by two Canadian regions.

And the most logical explanation behind this would be her playing just 13 games this season because of quadriceps and groin injuries. But these injuries also caused her to slip in another key popularity metric.

Sophie Cunningham Surpasses Caitlin Clark in New Google Ranking

Google just dropped its annual “Year in Search,” ranking the 10 most-searched athletes in the entire country — and only one woman cracked the list. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Caitlin Clark this year. Instead, her teammate, Sophie Cunningham, jumped all the way up to No. 7.

Last year, Caitlin Clark was the one carrying the WNBA’s flag in Google’s Top 10 most-searched athletes. But not this time. When Sophie Cunningham heard she’d made the list, she reacted on the December 9 episode of Show Me Something in the most Sophie way possible.

“You know, I don’t really know how to feel about that. It’s kind of cool, I guess. You’re the only female up there. That’s fun. [Being the only woman on the list] was pretty cool. I think it’s kind of cool, but there’s no real feeling towards it. People want to know more about me!”

That’s exactly how it should be. Search-based metrics will never tell the full story of how popular a player really is. But what they do reveal is that the WNBA’s rise was never just about Caitlin Clark alone. Yes, brought millions of new eyes to the league, no doubt about it, but once fans got here, they found their own favorites. The league managed to keep those fans, even with Clark barely playing this season is because the product on the court is that good.