The WNBA has been picking up a lot of attention recently and one player takes up most of the spotlight; Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark. A recent episode of The Bill Simons Podcast centered around the WNBA discussed the rising star’s possible impact on the WNBA and its evolving audience. Clark’s rise to fame could threaten the likes of NBA emerging stars; Anthony Edwards, Victor Wembanyama, and Paolo Banchero.
The speakers on the podcast explored the possibility of Clark’s impact as the driving force behind Women’s College Basketball’s rise to national prominence. This year, the championship finale saw 18.7 million viewers. According to ESPN, it was also the most-watched regular season since 2008-09, averaging 272,000 viewers, up 37% year-over-year.
The Caitlin Clark Effect
The Indiana Star is one of a kind. She is currently the #1 career scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history and recently got drafted into the WNBA as the #1 pick by the Indiana Fever. Her sensational gameplay contributed well to bringing the astonishing viewership past season. Following the same, Simmons On the podcast, said, “With Caitlin Clark, there’s some legitimate interest in the WNBA. She’s gonna be the catalyst for it to blow up.” Simmons and his co-hosts felt that the NCAA viewership could very well spill over to the WNBA’s viewership this year, surpassing the several factors hindering the league’s growth.
Simmons felt that a large structural issue with the WNBA is its relationship with the parent organization; the NBA. The panelists felt that the WNBA’s potential to forge its own identity and stand out from the NBA’s shadow may be hampered by this association. Currently, they are following in the footsteps of the NBA. To avoid such a narrative, the WNBA can adopt measures such as attempting to chart their own path, planning a structured schedule, and such. Another suggestion that came up was using the same team names as the NBA as this will make it easier to resonate with fans and cut across viewership. If scheduled correctly and during the offseason, they will attract a larger viewership. After all, the Women’s NCAA gained popularity by playing on days when their male counterparts were not.
The NBA’s current structure and scheduling strategies are mixed up. If planned currently, the franchise can capitalise off of all their leagues appropriately. “I think they are close to figuring this out,” Simmons iterates. They also thought that it was more likely that the WNBA would work out to be a more successful venture than the NCAA. But how does the sudden popularity of WNBA affect the landscape of NBA?
Is Clark a threat to NBA stars?
Caitlin Clark’s meteoric rise isn’t just grabbing attention in Women’s Basketball. The star has sent waves across fans of Men’s Basketball too. With talks about her potential impact on the WNBA, her popularity may affect the trajectories of future NBA stars. Do generational stars like Anthony Edwards, Victor Wembanyama and Paolo Banchero have something to worry about?
Clark’s talent is staggering. She is the first Division I player to top 3,000 points, 1,000 assists and 800 rebounds. She’s also the first Division I player to record 3,000 points and 1,000 assists in a career. She has 59 career games with atleast 25 points, five assists and five rebounds, making it an NCAA record. And even though NBA players are competing against the best of the best, Clark’s stats are giving them aggressive competition.
Stars like Edwards, Wembanyama and Banchero are the face of the new generation of players. Caitlin Clark’s introduction to the conversation threatens their claim to generational fame. “At the moment, 22-year-old Clark has a much bigger profile than 22-year-old Edwards… Clark went through proper branding and development program. She played four years of college basketball… she connected with the most passionate fans,” columnist Jason Whitlock observes. The college sport aspect here align rather well with Simmons.
“The NBA has this weird problem where they have in theory, a free farm system in college basketball, but they’ve also got a competing business and it’s somehow both things and it goes against them.” WNBA on the other hand offers a momentum for athletes to transition to professional setting in peak. Couple that Clark’s dominance, the 22-year-old moves to challenge conventions about greatness in a male-dominated field.
