The much-ballyhooed Caitlin Clark effect took one final bow in 2024.
Wednesday night’s Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs between the Fever and Sun drew 2.5 million viewers, ESPN announced, noting that this is the most-watched WNBA game to ever air exclusively on cable.
It is the latest data point in games featuring Clark drawing statistically significantly more viewers than previously thought possible in women’s basketball.
Sunday’s Game 1, which aired on ABC and went up against the NFL on Sunday afternoon, a time slot that is a reputed death zone not just for sports but all other TV programming, drew 1.8 million viewers.
During the regular season, games featuring Clark and the Fever nearly tripled other WNBA games in TV viewership, averaging 1.178 million viewers compared to 394,000, according to Fox executive Michael Mulvihill.
By comparison, last year’s WNBA Finals between the Aces and Liberty averaged 728,000 viewers.
Nevertheless, Clark’s WNBA viewership still has an uphill climb to where she peaked at in college.
Earlier this year, the college women’s national championship game, which featured Clark’s Iowa team going up against the undefeated South Carolina squad coached by Dawn Staley, drew 18.7 million viewers.
Now, having played two full seasons back to back, Clark can finally get some rest.
Asked what she plans to do with this new spare time after the Fever were eliminated by the Sun, Clark said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow, I don’t know what I’m going to do the next day. Maybe play some golf. That’s what I’m gonna do until it becomes too cold in Indiana. So I got that. I’ll become a professional golfer.”
The LPGA had a succinct response: “Count us in.”