Caitlin Clark Effect

The “Caitlin Clark effect” will probably be studied for decades to come in terms of what it has done for women’s basketball and sports in general.

?

This year’s Final Four matchup between Iowa and UCONN averaged 14.2 million viewers. According to ESPN, the matchup was the “most-watched women’s college basketball game in history”.

?

Here are a few crazy stats about that game:

·????? Averaged 14.2 million viewers

·????? Peaked at 17 million viewers

·????? Most-watched basketball game in ESPN history

·????? More viewers than all regular-season college football games except one

·????? 2nd most-watched non-football telecast ever behind the 2014 U.S. vs Portugal World Cup matchup

?

Use the link here to read the article where I pulled the statistics from!

https://frontofficesports.com/iowa-uconn-record-viewers/

?

Over the past two years, ESPN coverage, social media, and all platforms exploded with news about Caitlin Clark. Before long, she started dominating the NIL scene, scoring deals with State Farm, Nike, and Gatorade to name a few.

?

Her meteoric rise to stardom has aided in an influx of sponsorship dollars being invested into the college and professional women’s sports landscape as brands start to acknowledge the power of women’s sports. She has been a primary catalyst for creating the market demand that we are experiencing today.

?

For example, the NCAA and ESPN just agreed on a $920 million, 8-year extension to their media rights contract, with $65 million per year allocated to the women’s basketball tournament. To put this into perspective, this is roughly 10 times higher than its valuation in the current contract (according to NCAA president Charlie Baker).

?

Clark has drawn fans to the sport and captured audiences for the past 4 years. She has gained fans (myself included) and haters (like all the greats). Regardless of whichever boat you may fall in, you probably watched.

?

It has been really cool getting to watch a generational player like Caitlin Clark pull up from 7 feet behind the 3pt line with a defender in her face. When she gets going, she is unbelievable. We saw that Sunday when she scored 18 pts in the first quarter against South Carolina, where she ended with 30 pts.

?

Although she failed to win the national championship against a great South Carolina squad coached by Dawn Staley, Caitlin Clark’s legacy will be forever remembered for her advocacy of women’s sports and legendary on-court accomplishments.

?

This past season, she surpassed Jerry West to become the highest-scoring player in Division 1 college basketball history. On top of that, she has a pair of National Player of the Year awards.

?

That’s not a bad resume.

?

There will always be game-breakers in society and sports. The athletes that come to mind for me are the Jordans, Kobe Bryants, Serena Williams, LeBron James, and Steph Currys. They have a way of transcending sports and drawing people to them in ways that only the GOATs can.

?

Caitlin Clark will undoubtedly be seen in the same light as those greats for both her on-court excellence and cultural impact. She has helped propel women’s sports to the front of our minds, and I’m excited to see how she continues to uplift them as time goes on.

?

Either way, I have a feeling that she’ll be a household name for years and years to come.

?