Something like the Caitlin Clark effect can only be described as unprecedented. Sure, most sports have big names that seem to transcend the game and cement their names in history. But until this Des Moines native came to town, women’s basketball was still not where it needed to be. Through the WNBA’s inception in 1997 and a few big names in the sport before that, the stage for CC was set. And it was in large part thanks to an ESPN employee.

Carol Stiff, currently the vice president of programming and acquisitions at ESPN, joined the American Sports channel in 1990 as an entry-level programmer. Throughout her decades at the network, one thing that stood out was her tireless fight for better coverage of women’s college basketball. And although it took a good two decades, Big Ten Network’s Sue Maryott experienced the eventual impact of Caitlin Clark firsthand with her mother, Jean, who was in the nursing home last winter for cardiac rehab. The BTN’s vice president of remote productions revealed to The Athletic, “I’m calling to check on her, and she’s like, ‘Oh, honey, I’ve got to go. We’ve got pizza being delivered to the nursing home and we’re watching Caitlin tonight.’”

Andrew Marchand and Scott Dochterman wrote in the next line, “Her mother had never paid attention to sports until Clark came to Iowa.” The numbers peaked on ABC in the 2023 NCAA Finals game between Iowa and LSU, and while that was something to be proud of, Stiff wondered what numbers prime-time coverage would have brought.

This was the culmination of a long career of fighting for better times, as Stiff revealed to The Athletic, “I kept fighting over the years for better windows. ‘I need better windows, guys. All I get is Sunday afternoons? Are you kidding me?'” Women’s college basketball was ultimately given Big Mondays on ESPN2, as Marchand and Dochterman point out, but it was still competing with giants in men’s college basketball.

By the time Caitlin Clark came to Iowa, the scene had changed significantly, and yet, not at all. Her freshman year was spent playing in front of empty stands owing to COVID-19, although BTN-Plus had begun airing the games. The network was a pay-per-view stream and eventually, Marchand and Dochterman reveal, “Fox executives started to notice that Clark’s games drew about 30 percent more viewers than the other games it aired on BTN.”

After a total of 43 games being aired on the network, Clark and Iowa were moved to a different channel. But No. 22 bid a bittersweet goodbye to Maryott and Co.

Caitlin Clark bid an emotional goodbye to BTN

Sue Maryott ran into Caitlin Clark after a postgame interview session when she and Iowa’s popularity were at an all-time high. Per The Athletic, CC told Maryott, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Except she wouldn’t because the next day’s game would be airing on CBS. The Iowa sensation’s face fell, Maryott tells Marchand and Dochterman.

“I said, ‘Caitlin, it’s been a thrill. Thank you.’ And she grabs me and hugs me and hugs Meghan, and she says, ‘Thank you guys for everything you did.’ That hit me so hard, because I’m thinking, ‘Thank you for what you did,’” the BTN VP says. Clark would soon bid goodbye to college basketball but she arrived on the WNBA scene with much aplomb.

Had it not been for Carol Stiff, and many of the numerous talents that came before, would Caitlin Clark have had the impact she did? Her talent and passion for the game are not new; women’s basketball has seen much of the same over the decades. But the timing at which she arrived perhaps played a great role in popularizing the sport with audiences like Sue Maryott’s mother.