The first rookie to record a triple-double, the only rookie in WNBA History with multiple games of 20-plus points and 10-plus assists, and the second-most single-season three-pointers made in WNBA history – there was almost no record Caitlin Clark didn’t touch in 2024. Already coming off a historic college season, in which she became the NCAA men’s and women’s leading scorer, the Indiana Fever guard’s season was nothing short of record-breaking. Now, a Front Office Sports stat has a new look, offering a better picture of Clark’s impact.

Reporter Colin Salao took to X to differentiate between athletes’ content, and when focusing on WNBA and Clark, he touched upon something interesting. “🧵 We added charts to @FOS content this year. Here are a few that summarize the business of sports in 2024. First: All 31 WNBA games (including All-Star) that breached one million viewers this year. Yellow bars (22) featured Caitlin Clark.”

The attached image shows a bar chart of 31 games that crossed 1 million viewers, 22 of which feature Caitlin Clark, including the top 5. The game with the largest viewership is the WNBA All-Star game on ABC, standing at 3.44 million. Overall in the league, regular-season attendance was up 48% compared to 2023; ESPN reported a 170% rise, whereas Ion reported 133%. Whatever you say about the league, the Iowa sensation did leave behind the 131 (out of 132 active) WNBA players!

The last half-decade was definitely seeing a rise in interest in the women’s game but the arrival of Caitlin Clark catapulted them into popularity. It’s as Sue Bird said – the women’s basketball league had the fire, “But Caitlin came, and she poured gasoline all over that thing.”

Even games that did not feature the Fever No. 22 saw a general rise. Beginning from the WNBA Draft, which averaged 2.4 million viewers, obliterating the previously recorded 572,000 viewers for ESPN’s 2023 telecast, the WNBA Finals between the Lynx and the Liberty also pulled 1.57 million viewers in a total of five games, up 115% from 2023. The 2024 draft also surpassed the former WNBA Draft record of 601,000 viewers set in 2004.

Before the season-end brought more viewers, Clark’s debut with the Fever was also the most-watched WNBA game with 1.23 million viewers at that point in time. It was the continued trend from CC’s last college year when the Iowa vs. South Carolina NCAA final averaged 18.9 million viewers, surpassing the men’s and even the NBA finals.

With the game that influences these numbers, even the Fever’s new head coach is impressed.

Stephanie White is ready for championships, plural, with Caitlin Clark and Co.

Stephanie White has stepped into the Indiana Fever at a great time. The team has made the playoffs for the first time in eight years and the team boasts not just one but two consecutive No. 1 picks in Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark. The latter of which is also the WNBA Rookie of the Year. With Christie Sides gone, White, who formerly played for the Fever and even coached them, is now back in Indy and is a CC fan.

“She’s a great player, she’s a high IQ player,” White said. “She adjusted really quickly to this league, unbelievably quickly. And now it’s about becoming not just a great player but a great leader for this team, so we can win not just a championship but championships.”

Aside from the number of records she has broken, the one aspect Clark feels she should be working on is her physicality. And social media posts from the Fever handles show the Iowa sensation hitting the weight room. Now it’s time for 2025!