Despite Michael Jordan’s $7 Billion Success, Caitlin Clark’s Contribution Deemed Bigger for Key Reason

The Caitlin Clark effect has come to an end, but not before setting another record. For her final game of the season in the playoffs, the viewership averaged 2.5 million and peaked at 3.4 million viewers. She also won the AP WNBA Rookie of the Year award unanimously. Off the court, she secured endorsement deals with Nike and Wilson. The latter deal made her the only player other than Michael Jordan to receive signature treatment. MJ is known for setting the blueprint for the athletes and Fever President spoke about how Clark took it forward.

“So the people at Nike told me that the thing that Caitlin has done is also similar to what Tiger did in that they brought new fans to the sport. So Michael Jordan energized and became a role model for all the kids.” Allison Barber continued, “Caitlin’s got that she’s brought new fans to it. But she’s even more than that, in that she’s 22. So she came right out of college and hit, you know, very successful.”

To establish how successful the former Hawkeye is, we will just look at the attendance record. Last year, the Fever was the second-worst franchise in the league with an average of 4,067 fans. This season, the team set the top two records for fan attendance, the WNBA record with a total home attendance of 340,715. Plus, the 20,711 fans for the Fever and the Washington Mystics in Washington, D.C. set a single-season attendance record.

Similar to Barber’s thoughts, even Nancy Lieberman drew parallels between Micahel Jordan and Clark. “It’s not a Caitlin thing. It’s a people thing. I mean, people were so jealous of Michael Jordan back in 1984… UNC Chicago stadium was half empty prior to him arriving. The stadiums were filling up then. TV wanted him and the Bulls on every game.” Not to forget the Jordan Brand has hit 7 Billion in revenue this year, despite the drop in sales for Nike. Earlier this month, Hall of Famer spoke to Stephen A Smith and was on board the Clark hype train.

With all the parallels being drawn, let’s look back at the time when Michael Jordan broke the viewership record.

A sneak peek into the true influence of Michael Jordan

“It’s unique to have been in a partnership with the NBA for eight years, and to have had this fairy dust sprinkled on us. Now we have to reintroduce this generation of stars. But will we get Babe Ruth tomorrow? No.” said Dick Ebersol, the former chairman of ‘NBC Sports’ in 1999.

He had no problem highlighting Micahel Jordan over any other sport or athlete. Well, because during the 1998 season, the eight Bulls telecasts averaged a 6.5 rating, which was 71% better than the 17 other broadcasts. Not to mention, the Bulls’ 1998 playoff games minus the Finals, averaged a 10.9 rating, 102 percent above telecasts without Chicago. Game 6 and Jordan’s last game at the time produced a whopping 22.3 rating.

“I’d be crazy to say that there weren’t a large number of people who watched the Finals just because of Michael.” Ebersol even compared MJ to Muhammad Ali, “Did ‘Wide World of Sports’ show Muhammad Ali too much in the 1960s? It’s what the public wants.” So, yes, there are athletes once in a generation to come and change the landscape of sports. Surely, the Caitlin Clark effect will continue to have a similar impact after her tremendous first season in the WNBA.