Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever sold out their first preseason game against the Dallas Wings in Arlington, Texas.
That’s just a preview of what’s coming for the WNBA with Clark as the main attraction.
The Fever lost to Dallas 79–76, but the excitement for Clark is already palpable.
Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA draft from the University of Iowa, has emerged as the most dynamic player in men’s and women’s basketball. Fans have flocked to her games in person and on TV because of her charisma.
The National Championship game between the Hawkeyes and South Carolina had 24 million combined viewers on ESPN and ABC—the first time in history that a women’s final drew a larger TV audience than the men’s, according to ESPN.
Now, expectations are that Clark will have the same impact on the WNBA and it’s already trending in that direction.
Clark finished her college career as the top scorer in the history of men’s and women’s college basketball with 3,951 points and was a two-time NCAA women’s basketball Player of the Year. She finished with the highest career scoring average (28.42) in Division I history, passing Patricia Hoskins of Mississippi Valley State.
Last season as a senior, Clark averaged 31.6 points, 8.9 assists, and 7.4 rebounds per game, leading Division I in scoring and assists. The Hawkeyes retired her No. 22 jersey number, making her the third player in program history to receive the honor.
There will inevitably be some growing pains in the WNBA. The speed and physicality of the pro game are more intense than at the college level. However, Clark still shined in her debut and much of the sold-out crowd in Texas were at the game to cheer for her, rather than the home team.
Attendance and television ratings for the WNBA were already trending upward even before Clark was selected by Indiana. The league has its most-watched season in 21 years, averaging 462,000 viewers per game across its affiliates, ABC, ESPN, and CBS.
Teams are already preparing for the Clark effect when they host Indiana. For example, the Las Vegas Aces, the two-time reigning WNBA champions, relocated their game on May 25 from the 12,000-seat Michelob Ultra Arena to the 18,000-seat T-Mobile Arena to meet demand. In addition, the Washington Mystics moved their June 7 game against Indiana to Capital One Arena, which has a capacity of 20,356, from their normal home, the Entertainment and Sports Arena, which can host 4,200 fans.
For Clark, she is just focused on playing basketball. She is looking for continued improvement before the regular-season opener against Connecticut on May 14.