Super Bowl LIX delivered a jaw-dropping shocker as the Philadelphia Eagles crushed the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22, pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent history! But the action wasn’t just on the field, the Superdome was buzzing with Hollywood A-listers, music icons, and sports legends, making it a true spectacle. Beyond the game, the night also served as a celebration of the meteoric rise of women’s sports.

But not everything off the field was smooth sailing! ESPN Women tried to celebrate the rise of women’s sports with a special post, but things took a wild turn. They were forced to delete it after facing major backlash from fans, you ask why? Because one name was noticeably missing from the post, Caitlin Clark!

The post, captioned “THIS women in sports movement,” featured stars like Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, and Angel Reese but it didn’t have Caitlin Clark’s name on it. We all know how influential the WNBA ROTY has been since emerging on to the scene and not having her on the list upset many fans and they took to various social media platforms to voice their opinion on it.

Let’s take a look at what the fans have to say about this behavior from ESPN!

Fans rage over ESPN omitting Caitlin Clark

One fan took to X to call out ESPN Women for deliberately leaving out the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer from the post, saying, “👀👀 umm, ok?!?! Remind me again who they say is being pushed? @espnW and the w have the same admin.” The omission only fueled the ongoing debate about Clark’s media coverage, with her fans convinced that she’s being purposely left out of the conversation despite her record-breaking achievements!

The same fan didn’t stop there, calling out what they saw as a glaring omission, saying, “Literally EVERYONE from the Nike commercial but her. And will turn around and talk about yt privilege. The girl gets more hate than privilege for being yt.” For those who don’t know, Nike made a grand return to the Super Bowl ad game after 27 years with their “So Win” commercial, a powerful tribute to women in sports. The ad, which aired near the end of the first half, featured some of the biggest names, including Caitlin Clark, Jordan Chiles, and Sabrina Ionescu.

Fans have grown increasingly frustrated with how Caitlin Clark has been treated by the national media, and they didn’t hold back. One fan took to X to voice their outrage, saying, “I don’t want anyone to say Caitlin Clark has a lick of privilege of any sort ever again. We haven’t seen an athlete been systematically mistreated at this level in over 70 years.”

The backlash against the media’s treatment of Caitlin Clark isn’t new, and fans were quick to remind everyone that this isn’t the first time. Julianne Viani-Braen of CBS recently caused an uproar among fans when she claimed that Paige Bueckers is an all-around player, unlike Caitlin Clark!

ESPN’s decision to leave Caitlin Clark out blew up in their face as fans wasted no time calling them out for the glaring omission. Deleting the post couldn’t erase the outrage and it only reinforced the growing frustration that even the biggest stars don’t always get the respect they deserve from the national media.