Staunch Caitlin Clark fan Dave Portnoy rips “race baiters” after Paige Bueckers-led NCAA tournament draws 10.4M less viewers 

Dave Portnoy has ripped into "race baiters" who believe Caitlin Clark's popularity is due to her being white after the 2025 NCAA championship game between Paige Bueckers' UConn Huskies and the South Carolina Gamecocks drew 10.4 million fewer viewers than last year.

According to a tweet by Portnoy, the 2024 championship game, which featured Caitlin Clark's Iowa, had a record 18.9 million viewers, while this year's final drew 8.5 million.

Clark's meteoric rise has been attributed to her race by many fans. However, Portnoy questioned that claim, reminding everyone that Bueckers, also white, couldn't fuel as much engagement.

The Barstool Sports founder and owner said on X on Monday:

"I’m going to need all the race-baiters who explain Caitlin Clark's popularity simply because she's white to explain why 10 million more people watched her last year than Paige Bueckers (also white) this year. I’ll hang up and listen."

Clark's impact has often been questioned by critics, with many downplaying her impact on the WNBA's popularity boom and pointing to the generational stars who came before her.

However, the numbers prove that Clark's impact has been seismic. Before the women's NCAA tournament's viewership numbers surfaced, the viewership figures the Fever generated highlighted her impact on the sport's growth.

23 games generated more than a million viewers, and Caitlin Clark was part of 20 of those matchups. She also highlighted matchups that topped the charts for WNBA's national TV partners - ESPN, CBS, ABC, ESPN2, Ion, and NBA TV.