The 2024 WNBA season tipped off on Tuesday, May 14, as superstar guard Caitlin Clark made her official Indiana Fever debut on the road at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, against the Connecticut Sun. We saw what the “Caitlin Clark Effect” looked like in Women’s College Basketball as for the first time in its 42-year history, more people watched the Women’s National Championship than the Men’s National Championship.

The Women’s National Championship Game, which featured Clark going up against South Carolina, was watched by 18.9 million people, peaking at 24.1 million in the game’s final 15 minutes, according to CNN Business. The game was the most-watched Women’s College Basketball game ever and doubled the previous year’s 9.9 million viewers.

Clark, who earlier in the Women’s College Basketball season broke Kelsey Plum’s record for most points scored in NCAA Division I history, has captured the hearts of many in the sports world, not only from fans, but from media members as well. Even before she stepped foot on a WNBA court, the “Caitlin Clark Effect” had already taken hold of the league. Fans and media members alike knew Clark was going to be the No. 1 pick to the Fever, but that was only the tip of the iceberg because the draft also included the likes of Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso, Rickea Jackson, Jacy Sheldon, and a multitude of other stars.

The 2024 draft averaged 2.45 million viewers,  a mind-boggling 307% increase in viewership over the 2023 draft. The previous all-time viewership for a WNBA Draft came in 2004 for Diana Taurasi’s draft year. That draft drew 601,000 viewers. The 2023 draft averaged 572,000 viewers on ESPN, which was up 42 percent over 2022.

The Fever hosted a draft watch party at Gainbridge FieldHouse in Indianapolis, IN, which is also the home of the Indiana Pacers, and according to Front Office Sports the Fever had 17,000 people claim a ticket to attend their draft party. Since it was the worst kept secret that the Fever were going to select Clark with the No. 1 overall pick, Indiana was given 36 games on national television, including four of their first five games.

Clark’s debut against the Connecticut Sun on May 14 was the most-watched WNBA game on ESPN platforms ever (regular season or playoffs).  The game scored 2.1 million viewers across ESPN2, ESPN+, and Disney+, surpassing the Phoenix Mercury at Connecticut Sun contest from May 22, 2004.The game peaked at 2.3 million viewers in the 7:45 p.m. – 7:59 p.m. window, according to WNBA’s website.  

With the large contingency of fans that Clark has brought with her to the WNBA this season, the rest of the teams in the league are benefiting because that means there are more eyes on the product as a whole. Sports fans are starting to see the talent the WNBA has to offer. Clark is not the only storyline the WNBA possesses. A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, and the Las Vegas Aces are going for a  three-peat this season,  Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, and the New York Liberty are looking to avenge last year’s loss in the WNBA Finals against the Aces. 

Furthermore, the league is starting to expand. The Golden State Valkyries will play their first season in 2025, andToronto is getting an expansion team. 

I don’t believe the WNBA is done adding teams to the league, and I’d love it if my hometown of Cleveland, OH, could bring back the Cleveland Rockers as part of that expansion. The Rockers were in the league from 1997-2003. By adding more teams to the league, it shows that more fans are tuning in to the WNBA and that’s due in large part because of the “Caitlin Clark Effect.”