Caitlin Clark hits a 3 from near the logo and then steals and scores. 5 points in 14 seconds explains why Clark is the most exciting basketball player right now, male or female. And why she is so popular.
Indiana Fever featuring Caitlin Clark were 2-9. They were playing against the Washington Mystics who were 0-10 at the time in Washington. A nothing game? Far from it. 20,333 fans showed up, the highest for a women's basketball game in 25 years. As soon as the Fever left town, only 4620 showed up for the next Mystics home game. Almost all matches featuring the Fever are sold out everywhere because of Caitlin Clark. All teams are moving their matches to much larger arenas when the Fever is in town to accomodate the explosive interest in Clark.
Viewership is up significantly across the board for the WNBA. But when the Fever is featured, its through the roof. 2.5 million watched the matcup between the Fever and the Chicago Sky, which featured Clark nemesis Angel Reese. It was the highest ever for a WNBA match.
Because of Caitlin Clark, the WNBA changed their rules to allow all teams to use chartered flights for their travels. Clark going through turnsiles for regular flights would have drawn insane crowds.
Clark is benefitting immesely from her popularity, as she should. Nike signed her to a 7-year, $28 million deal, including a signature shoe. She has endorsement deals also with State Farm, Gatorade, Wilson (basketball balls) and others. According to some estimates, Clark will earn more in one year from her endorsements than any other women's basketball player has earned in their entire careers. That sort of money is not going down well with some of the players and certain segments of the media. The race card is being played hard. But when Tiger Woods stormed to the scene and benifited immensely from huge multiple endorsements, no one said it was because he is black.
Right now, its Caitlin Clark's world. We are just living in it.