Just how important is Caitlin Clark to the WNBA? That question has been asked ever since the Indiana Fever star got drafted back in 2024. Sports columnist Christine Brennan attempted to provide some evidence of the same back in July, when her book ‘On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports’ hit the stores. However, since then, Clark has been absent from the Fever games due to injury issues. Therefore, a new set of evidence was needed to prove the player’s worth. Recently, it was found, and Brennan gladly pointed it out.

The official X account of ‘ESPN PR’ recently put out a post. It reported that ESPN had “delivered the most-watched #WNBA Semifinals EVER.” Game 5 between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces reportedly brought in an average of 1.8 million viewers. At its peak, the number reached up to 2.1 million. Additionally, ESPN highlighted that Semifinals viewership was up 57% YoY, while WNBA Playoffs viewership was up 15% YoY.

Pretty impressive. However, it wasn’t something that left Christine Brennan floored. Less than 20 minutes after ESPN PR put out the post, the 67-year-old wrote, “Lots of chatter about Caitlin Clark today. If there is anyone out there with any doubts about just how important Clark is to the WNBA, here you go: ESPN is thrilled with a 1.3 million average for the semis. Clark’s Game 2 of the first round last year? Nearly double: 2.5 million.” Yikes!

Christine Brennan holds around 4 decades’ worth of experience in sportswriting. According to reports, she was drawn to the project because Clark continuously grabbed national headlines, even more than her male peers. Brennan observed that the women’s 2024 NCAA final, between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the South Carolina Gamecocks, drew 4 million more viewers than the men’s Final the next night.

“That’s a sentence I never thought I would write. Women’s college basketball being more popular than men’s college basketball? In 21st-century America? How was that possible?” Brennan wrote. “The answer was Clark.” The 67-year-old realized that writing a book about her was an opportunity that was too good to be missed. Lo and behold, a book was written.

There is no denying that Caitlin Clark’s presence has done wonders for the WNBA. In fact, the foundation that she has laid by getting in more viewers behind a screen and fans into the stadium continues to pay off even when she isn’t playing.

Sophie Cunningham Highlighted Viewership and Attendance of Fever Games Maintained Even Without Caitlin Clark

Bloomberg reporters Ira Boudway, Silas Brown, and Carrington York wrote, back in July, that “If last season was about finding out how big the Clark Effect would be, this one has been about the ripple effects”. They highlighted that the Fever star missing five games, with a quad strain early on, offered a look at what happens to TV ratings without her. Clark’s absence was significantly felt in the stats, as viewership for all nationally televised WNBA games reportedly fell by 55% during her absence period. Meanwhile, Fever games dropped from an average of 1.8 million before her injury to about 850,000 while she continued to be out. However, once it was clear that the 23-year-old wouldn’t be returning to play due to complications from her groin injury, people still found an excuse to tune in to Fever games.

About a week-and-a-half ago, the episode of ‘The Young Man and the Three’ podcast featuring Sophie Cunningham was uploaded. During the interview, the shooting guard/small forward admitted that “this basketball stage that we’re playing on is above any other team right now. Our fans, no matter where we go, we’re going to the biggest arenas. We have more fans than they do. Like it is insane. But it has been so much fun.” Cunningham also added that “they’re still selling out our arena and, like really five of us aren’t even playing. They’re selling it out in other places. I know. Which is insane”.

Soon after the episode was uploaded, WNBA reporter Chloe Peterson provided the stats to back the Fever player’s claims. According to a tweet she put out, Game 1 of the Fever-Aces series averaged a whopping 1.4 million viewers on ABC. This turned the matchup into the most-watched semifinal game on Disney networks. Additionally, Game 2 of Fever-Dream averaged 1.5 million viewers on ESPN, making it the second-most-watched first-round Game 2 in WNBA history. There were still some drops, since Game 1’s 951,000 viewers on ABC was a 47% dip from the 1.8 million viewers who watched the Fever-Sun game last season.

Having observed all this, do you believe in the ‘Caitlin Clark ripple effect’? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.