The phenomenon that Caitlin Clark has been for the WNBA since she arrived this season on the Indiana Fever has been brutal. She single-handedly, with out assist from anybody else, managed to switch the celebrity that preceded her from school basketball to the professionals. Hundreds of younger ladies and women have taken her as a task mannequin and he or she has been chargeable for the WNBA being of curiosity not solely to the American public, however in different international locations as properly.
Caitlin has had a big impact on the WNBA this season, and the numbers are significantly spectacular. Because the common season wraps up and the playoffs are about to kick off, we’re seeing simply how many individuals have been tuning in to look at her play.
Fox govt Michael Mulvihill reported that Clark’s video games on TV averaged 1.178 million viewers, which is sort of 3 times the viewers for all different WNBA video games, averaging 394,000.
And on the subject of the video games in particular person, Related Press reporter Tim Reynolds shared some eye-popping attendance figures. When the Indiana Fever, Clark’s workforce, performed, they averaged 16,084 followers this season, whereas non-Fever video games solely averaged 8,552. That is an 88% distinction. As Reynolds put it, that is “Caitlinmania” for you.
The rookie phenomenon remodeling WNBA fan engagement
Reynolds additionally identified some attention-grabbing stats about how attendance modified when different groups hosted the Fever. For instance, when the Fever performed in Atlanta and Washington, the attendance numbers skyrocketed. The Dream video games in Atlanta drew 17,592 followers once they hosted the Fever, in comparison with simply 3,316 for all different video games.
Equally, the Mystics in Washington had 20,522 followers when the Fever had been on the town, however solely averaged 4,988 for his or her different video games. It is clear that Caitlin has been a significant draw for followers in these cities.
Then again, some groups did not see as large of a distinction in attendance when taking part in towards the Fever. In Chicago, Connecticut, and Dallas, the place the groups play in smaller arenas and did not transfer to larger ones for the Fever, the attendance numbers did not fluctuate as a lot.
It isn’t simply concerning the numbers, although. Caitlin’s affect goes past simply filling seats and drawing TV viewers. She’s additionally been making waves together with her abilities on the courtroom and off. As one in all her teammates talked about earlier this week, “Caitlin has introduced a lot vitality and expertise to our workforce. It has been superb to see her deal with all the eye and nonetheless carry out at such a excessive stage.“