After breaking countless records at 22 years of age, Caitlin Clark has become one of the most popular women’s basketball players of all time. Clark has gained more and more fans with each game she plays and has made a huge impact on the sport.
Clark has set the bar high for both men’s and women’s college basketball players. On Feb. 15, Clark broke the record for most career points for the NCAA with 3,951 points. She was Iowa’s all-time leading scorer and was the first Iowa Women’s Basketball player to be named the First Team All-Big 10 4 times. Clark is also the only player in NCAA D-1 history, for both men’s and women’s basketball, to lead in scoring and assists for 4 consecutive seasons.
Clark has had a huge impact on women’s sports and viewership. During the women’s championship game between South Carolina and Iowa, viewership averaged 18.7 million and hit 24 million between ESPN and ABC. This game was the first women’s final to have a greater tv audience than the men’s and was “…the most-watched women’s college basketball game since 1992.” The 2024 WNBA draft hit an all-time record average of 2.45 million viewers and peaked 3.09 million on April 15.
Sophomore Kylie Boyle loves watching Cailin Clark play because of how determined and inspiring she is.
“Because of her, women’s sports have received a lot of love and a lot more attention than they did before,” said Boyle. “The last few games reached well over 10 million views. Clark has worked so hard to get to where she is today and lit a spark in so many young girls in sports to be the best they can.”
Clark was the number 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft and was selected by the Indiana Fever. On April 26, she signed a Rookie Scale Contract and can earn a salary up to $76,000. She made her preseason debut May 3 against the Dallas Wings, just falling short 79 to 76. The Indiana Fever is excited to see what Clark can accomplish in her WNBA career.
