“The Caitlin Clark Effect” Still Weighs on Cathy Engelbert as A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart Propel WNBA to New Milestone

With Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever out of the playoffs, many predicted that the W would not attract as many TV viewers. And their fear has come true. Trying to prove them wrong were the Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson and her competitor the New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart. In the recently concluded game 1 of the semi-finals between the two, the viewers tuned their TVs to watch the much-anticipated clash such that it made a record. Nonetheless, Cathy Engelbert couldn’t have gotten over Clark as the latter’s game had attracted more numbers.

According to a tweet by ESPN PR handle on Tuesday, game 1 of the semis attracted 929,000 viewers as per Nielsen. The matchup peaked at 1.2 million viewers which made it the most watched semi-final game in the past 22 years. Hence, it naturally also went ahead of the viewership tally for the 2023 Semifinal games by almost 60%.

Despite such ramping up in numbers, the game fell short of the viewership numbers brought in due to the Caitlin Clark effect. Clark’s WNBA playoff debut game against the Sun had around 1.84 million viewers which is quite higher than the 929,000 viewers record set by the Game 1 of the Semis between the Aces and the Liberty.

When Clark emerged into the W, she brought her own fans from the NCAA. This year’s W draft was the most watched draft in its history, averaging 2.45 million viewers, as Clark was the number one pick by the Indiana Fever. Additionally, it was also the league’s most-watched telecast since 2000. Even her debut against the Connecticut Sun in May became the most-watched game since 2002. All this inspired Engelebrt to comment about her and the new batch of rookies.

“[Clark is] clearly an unbelievable player, came in with an unbelievable following, has brought a lot of new fans to the league. If you look at our historic season around– our attendance, our viewership, Caitlin, Angel too, Angel Reese, Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink. This class of rookies, we will be talking about them a generation from now,” Engelbert stated while also acknowledging the impact of other rookies namely Angel Reese, Rickea Jackson, and Cameron Brink.

For the unversed, it wasn’t only the Fever games that attracted so much crowd, even Reese’s clashes against the Fever and sometimes her squaring off with other teams also got a fair bit of popularity to the W. At one moment the situation was such that even in the Olympics where Clark had been snubbed, fans from different countries expressed their dislike for the same sometimes by donning her jersey, at other times holding a placard while requesting Team USA to bring her to the court. And it’s not only fans who have acknowledged the Clark effect, instead, it is her teammates too who are in awe of the Des Moines-born.

Kelsey Mitchell and Erica Wheeler share their take on the rising fan base

While Kelsey Mitchell was picked up by the Fever as the second overall pick in 2018, Erica Wheeler joined the Fever camp last year for the second time after playing for the Indianapolis-based franchise from 2016-19. The duo however weren’t privy to such record-breaking numbers before. Talking about the same during exit interviews, Mitchell and Wheeler expressed their high moments, and definitely increasing their fan base was one of them.

“I think for me the eyes gained through this process and seeing us play and see us represent what is the game,” Mitchell revealed. Up until the Olympics break, around 186,000 fans had attended the Fever home games at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse arena, which was 265% more than in 2023. The Clark effect was such that between April 15 and July 19, the Fever beat all the other teams belonging to the popular NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB leagues in their video consumption. The only team to have edged Clark’s Fever was the Inter Miami. Therefore it hints at the popularity of Clark which is now being compared to Lionel Messi.

Plus, Mitchell also revealed that the most memorable moment was her early New York Liberty game at home when she saw so many fans that it made her “jaw drop.” Most probably, she was referring to the New York Liberty’s game against the Fever in May when Clark attracted a sellout crowd of 17,274 which was much higher than the 2023 Fever’s opener which had around 7,356 fans. And Wheeler looked to agree. She also recollected one of her passes during a game in which the crowd just went boom, which according to her was a “crazy” moment. Hopefully, Clark will again storm the court with the effect. As of now fans can enjoy the semi-final series and hope for the best team to win.