A Revolutionary Icon: How Catlin Clark Resurrected the WNBA

Khrish Butani
Apr 17
4 min read

By: Khrish Butani

All it takes is one: One player. One superstar. One Phenom. One Icon. All it takes is one to bolster an organization from the ground up to triumph, to ameliorate the lives and wealth of players, and to branch an organization across fanbases on national and international levels. From Catlin Clark’s 2024 campaign all the way back to the closing stages of her collegiate career, she has proven wonders to the fiscal gain and popularity of the WNBA. You rarely see an individual this influential and monumental as to resurrect an entire sport into profit, but that is what we have seen from Clarke. She has been and is continuing to be that one player, one superstar, one phenom, and that one icon.

Monday, April 15th, 2024. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announces the numerous fans tuning in. “the Indiana Fever select: Catlin Clarke, University of Iowa.” Applause rang throughout the building, but little did these fans know, this would be the key moment in redefining the sport. The market and nature of the WNBA was to change forever due to this one moment, and it soon became evident.

India Fever:

On May 16th, the Fever hosted their first home game of the season and of Clarke’s career. This was the start of new beginnings and was proven to be such by their record-shattering 17,000 fans in attendance. In the previous year, the Fever possessed a 4,000 fan average with the WNBA as a whole possessing a 6,000 average. With the range in ticket pricing, the financial gain for the Indiana Fever was proliferated. Based on this pricing, it is estimated that the Fever home games each generated $142,345 on average in 2023. Comparing this to Clarke’s first year, 2024, this number was shot into the stratosphere. The new average financial gain per game sat at an astounding $1,565,927.68. Keep in mind that these numbers are relative to simple ticket sales. From other sources of profit including merchandise and viewership, the Fever averaged $40,670 per game in 2023 compared to a whopping $170,360 in 2024. Clarke’s impacts speak immense volumes for the Fever themselves.

WNBA:

Caitlin Clark's influence stretches far beyond the Indiana Fever and into the growth of the league as a whole. A league that once struggled to find its footing in mainstream relevance and financial profit/stability witnessed a ground-breaking change in all of these concepts. The 2024 regular season witnessed 657,000 average viewers per game. This was a record-breaking 30% leap from the year prior. Furthermore, the average for this postseason increased by an incredible 139% to 1.1 million viewers per game, ranking as the most-watched WNBA postseason in more than twenty years. These soaring viewership numbers translated to massive broadcasting deals, with ESPN, ABC, and CBS collectively increasing their WNBA rights fees to an estimated $60 million a year, up from $25 million under their old league deals.

These increases did not occur by chance: more so, Clark was undeniably the cause. Electric performance, incredible shooting range, and a very competitive edge are what has brought fresh juice to this league. Fans of her decorated collegiate career flocked to see her WNBA games, and just like that, Caitlin Clark became the face of women's basketball. The media couldn't get enough of her, while Fever games became must-see spectacles. It wasn't just a team or a league growing; it was Caitlin Clark pulling the WNBA into a new era with her name alone. As she gained popularity, sponsors were quick to invest, and sponsorship income increased 40%, putting the league's total sponsorship deals over $200 million for the first time in its history.

Up to then, the WNBA had been suspended in mid-air, leaning towards extinction. Clubs up to then had survived on subsides, and critics accused the league of lacking revenue with such talent. Then arrived Clark. Sponsorship dollars flooded in, ticket sales skyrocketed, and merchandise became a profit mainstay led by a record-shattering jersey sale for her. What was once a struggling organization became a blooming company with the introduction of one player. Clark did not just join the WNBA; she revolutionized it.

As it went on, attendance went through the roof, including league attendance averages in 2024 at 9,807 fans per game, up 48 percent from an average of 6,615 fans per game a season earlier. Then came merchandise sales, as her jersey became the highest-selling in league history within months. Social media exploded, as WNBA platforms reported a 380% surge in video views in the season's opening week alone, and it didn't stop there. Caitlin Clark's global reach attracted new, more international fans who put the WNBA on the map in a diverse set of nations greatly unbeknownst to the sport.

In every sense, Caitlin Clark has rewritten what it means to be an icon. She didn't lift just her team, teammates, or city on her back in this pursuit of dominion. She lifted the entire WNBA, becoming the surge this incredible league needed to have its represented worth boosted. Her rookie season in 2024 proved all it takes in record-breaking viewership and league-altering sponsorship deals is one: one player, one phenom, and one icon to transform a sport forever.