Caitlin Clark at the forefront as WNBA reaches attendance heights

The WNBA has been a sport that has been growing for the past few years and has seen many new fans come along as recognizable veterans have helped pave the way. However, the 2024 WNBA Draft class was the sport’s biggest jump into the national spotlight. Led by Caitlin Clark, this draft class helped the sport explode to new heights to boost huge revenue on and off the court.  

Since she arrived in the WNBA, Clark, and other high-value rookies, have helped the league raise the viewership level of the sport and have transcended a new range of fans. 

On Monday, the WNBA announced a series of reports regarding the rise of the sport. Attendance at the games is up 156% compared to the previous year. About 400,000 fans have been in attendance at the games.

The nationally televised games are averaging 1.32 million viewers, nearly tripling the number of average viewers in televised games. WNBA Countdown is averaging 741,000 viewers, a huge increase from the year before. Merchandise sales online have risen 236% from last year. Subscriptions for WNBA League Pass are up 355% compared to last year. 

Caitlin Clark leading to record surge in WNBA attendance, viewership

Even before entering the WNBA, Clark was a polarizing player. She remains that after her departure from Iowa despite her Indiana Fever struggling at the bottom of the league. Plenty of fans love her and perhaps just as many, well, don't.

While there have been many critics of Clark's game and how often she is shooting under 50% from the floor, there are still plenty of reasons to believe that Clark is still among one of the top players in this rookie class and in the WNBA already.

While the Fever are still trying to achieve status as a playoff-caliber team and won't for a while, Clark is showing she has the play-making skills to not only survive in the WNBA but thrive.

Despite the grueling battle over the Chicago Sky on June 1, Clark showed her toughness and her ability to guide her team to a stellar win. This was a game that was not only viewed significantly by many fans and non-fans but it was sensationalized over the next few days and on multiple different talk shows.

Caitlin Clark joined by other star rookies sparking record WNBA numbers

As mentioned before, it is not just Clark who is expanding a new brand of fan appreciation within the sport. Most of the 2024 WNBA Draft has been successful with the players coming into their teams.

Just one pick after Clark, the Los Angeles Sparks got a huge steal with center Cameron Brink. On the court, Brink is a tall, lean but incredibly efficient powerful player. She is currently second in the league in blocks per game (2.9).

Angel Reese has been a remarkable rookie for the Sky. She and several of her teammates have been labeled his villains for the treatment they’ve bestowed upon Clark. But Reese herself is a dynamic player for the Sky on both ends of the court. She is averaging 12.4 points per game, a team-high 9.6 rebounds and a team-high 1.9 steals per game.

Another rookie taken far deeper in the draft is Las Vegas Aces’ guard Kate Martin, Clark’s former teammate at Iowa. Martin can be described as one of the biggest steals in the draft and potentially the WNBA Rookie of the Year. She is already making an impact on the team as a second-round rookie and one that probably should have been drafted in the first round.

What these women have done, without question and no matter how anyone feels about them individually, though, is bring the WNBA to far more eyes than ever before. And that is unmistakably a win for the league and sports as a whole.