On Thursday, WNBA fans reacted to Caitlin Clark's impact on the league as the WNBA announced that the Indiana Fever, led by Clark, will have 41 of their total 44 games nationally televised this season.
This underscores the remarkable stature of the Fever star in capturing the league's attention, while carrying significant responsibility. Clark's nationally televised games surpass those of the LA Lakers—who lead the NBA in this category—by two.
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Reacting to the post on X, one of the fans declared Clark the face of basketball.
"People call me crazy when i say this but she is the FACE of basketball," the fan wrote.
Some of the fans compared Caitlin Clark's effect on the WNBA to Michael Jordan's effect on the NBA.
"Caitlin Clark is having a Michael Jordan effect in the modern era," the fan wrote.
"I think it's because she's the first of her kind in terms of cultural impact. She's Jordan in that sense. You can argue the on-court stuff and all the rest, but in terms of being the first global icon in the sport, she's the one," another fan wrote.
One fan wrote that Clark absolutely deserved the superstar treatment.
"she is a superstar, totally deserved," the fan wrote.
Meanwhile, some of the fans also brought up Angel Reese's name in the conversation.
"And @Reese10Angel still think she a star and we’re tryna watch her brick layup😂," the fan wrote.
"Angel Reese punching the air rn," another fan wrote.
However, one of the fans minimized the numbers by comparing the total teams in the NBA.
"12 teams vs 30 teams, stop being stupid," the fan wrote.
WNBA analyst defends Caitlin Clark getting more nationally televised games than previous WNBA champions
NBA and WNBA players often refer to the word "business," especially when it's trade time. When it comes to fairness in treatment, both leagues assess it through the lens of profit-driven business models, albeit not unethically.
One can make an easy and very strong argument that more than Caitlin Clark, players like A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier deserve nationally televised games, and one viewer even made the remark.
However, according to CBS' Ashley Nicole Moss, Clark's Fever had more games on the calendar because of the "Caitlin Clark Effect." The WNBA analyst also added that this would eventually increase the league's viewership and succeed in better CBA negotiations.
"Well, yeah. the numbers show Caitlin Clark is responsible for a large chunk of the increase in viewership," Nicole wrote. "The WNBA will continue to ride the wave until it’s no longer profitable for them."
"Also … continued increase in viewership helps the players in CBA negotiations," she added.
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will start their season on May 17 later this year against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky. The game will be broadcast on ABC and ESPN.
