Caitlin Clark Keeps Setting Records for WNBA
By Movieguide® Contributor
Women’s basketball fans finally got what they’ve been wanting to see all year — Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese on the same team.
The two stars donned the same jersey for the 2024 WNBA All-Star game, which broke records as 3.4 million viewers tuned in.
“Saturday’s showcase drew 3.44 million viewers on ABC, per Nielsen. That crushes the previous audience record set in 2003, when 1.441 million viewers tuned into ABC for a Saturday afternoon tilt at Madison Square Garden,” the New York Times reported.
“That game featured an abundance of all-time greats, including Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird, Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, Tamika Catchings, Tina Thompson, Lauren Jackson, Teresa Weatherspoon, Chamique Holdsclaw, Katie Smith, Yolanda Griffith, Swin Cash and Nykesha Sales, among others. (There was also a first-time All-Star guard from the New York Liberty named Becky Hammon),” the Times added.
The massive numbers for last weekend’s viewership emphasize the rise in another generation of WNBA greats.
“This weekend’s extraordinary viewership underscores women’s sports’ exponential growth and ESPN is proud to showcase this incredible league and its exceptional athletes on such a grand stage,” said Julie Sobieski, ESPN SVP of League Programming and Acquisitions.
The WNBA has racked up more viewership this year than ever before, thanks to Clark.
The All-Star game marked the “17th WNBA game this year that has topped 1 million viewers, a remarkable achievement given the league had not hit the million viewership mark in the previous 16 years.”
Of those 17 games, Clark has been on the court for 15 of them.
What makes this stat line even better is that the WNBA All-Star team upset Team USA, the team headed to Paris for the 2024 Olympics.
Per ESPN, “Clark had a quiet scoring night (4 points) but recorded yet another game with double-digit assists (10), a rookie record and one shy of Sue Bird’s all-time All-Star Game mark…Reese finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds to become the first rookie to record a double-double in an All-Star Game.”
Deadline noted the broadcast “was up 305% in viewership from last year. The audience for the game peaked from 10:30 – 10:43 PM ET with 4,054,000 viewers.”
It’s safe to say that women’s basketball is in good hands with Clark and Reese on the floor.
Movieguide® previously reported on Clark:
Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double.
Per TODAY, “Clark finished with 19 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds for Indiana (9-13). The No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft was one rebound shy of a triple-double two games ago in an 88-82 road victory over the Phoenix Mercury.”
What’s even cooler about her historic night is that “Clark, who wears No. 22, reached the triple-double in the 22nd game of her WNBA career. It was also the first triple-double in Fever history, going back to the launch of the franchise in 2000. Clark had 17 triple-doubles in her college career at Iowa — and the Hawkeyes won all those games,” ESPN reported.
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