Do you know? Until 1997, there was no WNBA. No league, no teams, no media buzz. And March was just the boys’ playground. Then the league came, and the growth has been there, for sure. But we all know what, or more accurately, who, took it to another galaxy. Caitlin Clark. Born five years after the WNBA first tipped off, she entered a world that didn’t even know it was about to be changed by her. The Caitlin Clark Effect, as they call it.

She entered the W as the No.1 pick and, well, her jerseys were already sold out. We’d honestly never seen anything like it. But then again, when someone walks in after pulling 18.9 million viewers in college, this level of madness was kinda expected. Her WNBA Draft became the most-watched in history. Her debut vs. the Sun was the most-watched WNBA game since 2002. She broke viewership records on six networks—ESPN, Ion, NBA TV, you name it. Cards, jerseys, merch, everything was a sellout. But that was just the surface. The real shakeup is that it even hit the WNBA’s front office led by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. How, you may ask?

Recently, Seerat Sohi had Andrew Haubner on The Ringer, and he didn’t hold back. He exposed a hard truth: “The W does not and has not had the front office resources, the communications team just the league apparatus itself. The NBA as an entity staffs orders of magnitude more people than the W does.”

He believes that when you look at how proactive the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver are in advancing their product, it’s because they have a marketing team. And then he added, “And this year I think they learned the lesson of what Caitlin Clark taught them which was you can’t be behind anymore you can’t hope that the players are going to be the sole drivers of this.”

That’s how deep her impact runs. The league had been running on fumes staff-wise for years, but now the marketing team’s up to over 25. With that, the W’s finally been able to run bigger, bolder campaigns. And the league’s digital game is strong now. With more behind-the-scenes clips, player stories, and emotional highlights, the W feels more human than ever. The result is over 40% growth in engagement rates and a 19.22% follower jump in 2024 alone. This all led to the WNBA being officially recognized as the fastest-growing brand in pro sports last year. 

“Caitlin arriving in the league…obviously the profitability of the league goes up, the revenue number goes up. I think owners finally realized what they had and that when you ride the wave you know you spend money to make money to ride the wave,” said Haubner from No Cap Space. 

Well, ride it they did. The W just locked in an 11-year media rights deal worth about $2.2 billion. With ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, and NBCUniversal on board, the league’s annual earnings are jumping from around $50 million to $200 million. The league generated approximately $200 million in revenue. This figure represents a substantial increase from previous years, including a doubling of revenue from $102 million in 2019.

And now that they are getting that support, the league is also willing to make efforts for the betterment. Players are looking forward to the new CBA. Going forward, with the 2025 season looking even more blockbuster than 2024, history’s already being made. For the first time ever, all 15 preseason games are being streamed. Fever is the first team to get their preseason game nationally televised.

All signs point in one direction: Caitlin Clark elevated the sport. From here, it’s only going up with more faces like Paige Bueckers joining. But you know what? While Clark’s making history, let’s not forget, a whole generation of women laid the path she’s now sprinting down.

Caitlin Clark carries the fire forward

Long before packed arenas and record-smashing broadcasts, women’s basketball was grinding in near-empty gyms and 5,000-seat Olympic venues. Back in ’96, the U.S. Olympic team sparked not one but two pro leagues—and before that, players had to go overseas just to keep hooping.

Fast forward to CC breaking records like it’s her full-time job, pulling in millions of viewers and turning the women’s game into must-watch TV. But you know what’s even cooler? She didn’t just make history, she connected it. With the same smooth touch she uses to dish out assists, Clark brought the spotlight back to the OGs.

Long before South Carolina ran the court, before Geno built a dynasty at UConn, before Pat Summitt’s stare became legendary, there were squads like Delta State and Immaculata University, who were already running the game back in the ’70s. And names like Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers Drysdale, Pearl Moore, Cheryl Miller, Carol Blazejowski, Lynette Woodard, Maya Moore.

Lieberman added, “Some people play the game, and some people change the game. I changed the game. Caitlin has changed the game. Cheryl Miller changed the game. Diana Taurasi changed the game. Brittney Griner changed the game… There’s a lot of really good players, but how many have really changed the game?”

Truth is, these women built this. No scholarships, no pro stars to look up to, no charter flights. But they lit the torch. And Clark is carrying it loud and proud. As Lieberman put it, “The greatest thing that has happened to women’s basketball for the next level of growth is Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and some of those kiddos.”

Now the next generation is here and they’re owning it. Here’s hoping the W sees plenty more Caitlin Clark-level waves.