A’ja Wilson Reflects Over Caitlin Clark’s Impact on Record Breaking Crowd in Las Vegas and WNBA

“I hope this is a movement and not a moment.” A’ja Wilson requested the fans to keep up their support during her speech at the Times 100 events. Now, after being in the league for almost half a decade, the 2x Olympian is seeing these fans are indeed here to stay. The Las Vegas Aces welcomed a record-worthy 20,366 basketball followers, there to see Wilson go head-to-head with Caitlin Clark. In the same light, she could not hide the fact that this is what the young talent has done for the entire WNBA.

Talking to ESPN after the sweeping win, A’ja Wilson talked about the one different thing this season. Giving a two-word answer, she said, “The energy.” The reigning WNBA Finals MVP also added, “I feel like the energy is good. It’s a good vibe. It’s a good feel. People are just coming to see the product on the court.”

Mentioning the earlier days when the fans were focusing more on the off-the-court conversations, Wilson mentioned, “I think it got a little too gossipy in the beginning but then it started to fizzle out because the people started to realize we’re really good at what we do. We’re elite at what we do. So, I love the energy now. People are saying good hoops and that’s what it’s all about. We come out here. We work hard and we play basketball at a very high level. People are believing in it. They’re trusting in it and they’re investing in it. So, I think that’s the energy that we’re feeling right now.” 

Tonight, the Fever-featuring arena once again broke a WNBA record for attendance. The game was previously set to take place in Aces’ home turf Michelob ULTRA Arena. However, seeing the increased demand, it was shifted to the T-Mobile Arena with a capacity of 18,000 people. Still, the venue saw a whopping 20,366 fans tonight. This was the highest regular season single-game attendance since 1999 in the WNBA. However, this is not the only time that Caitlin Clark has brought people into the arenas.

The Caitlin Clark effect in full display even before A’ja Wilson and the Aces welcomed them

Clarkonomics has changed a lot of things for the WNBA. Although the league is still going to lose a whopping $50 million due to its past failures, many can see how this rookie is here to lead the sport into a brighter future. On June 7, 2024, the Washington Mystics recorded the fifth-most attendance in the WNBA. Then, a whopping 20,033 fans entered the Capital One Arena to watch Caitlin Clark play in person.

The viewership has also seen a big bump in their numbers. All networks that jumped at the opportunity to broadcast Fever’s games have already totaled 1.184 million views. Contrastingly, the rest of the games are only bringing 428k fans to them. Surprisingly, we are only entering the season’s halfway mark now. Another interesting fact is that last season, the networks only collected 301k views at this point.

With every other game, Caitlin Clark is presenting her skills on the floor and off of it. While they bagged a defeat from A’ja Wilson and Co., many would say that their competitiveness kept them in the winning race till the last quarter does deserve some applause.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.