WNBA analyst sets the record straight with Caitlin Clark fans after 'nasty' attacks on ESPN ratings

There's no doubt that Caitlin Clark brought a ton of attention to the WNBA and women's college basketball in general last season. The reigning rookie of the year has introduced the game to many people who never desired to watch women's hoops.

With the increase in attention, the WNBA and women's basketball reached new heights, and while the added visibility was needed, media members have been under attack by fans on social media, alluding to the idea that media outlets are discrediting Clark when comparing viewership numbers from 2023 to the past season.

One fan addressed WNBA analyst and ESPN sports anchor Elle Duncan on X after her comments on "The Sports Gossip Show" referred to Clark as an anomaly.

"Hey @elleduncanESPN Maybe it’s condescending soapbox rants like this about the fans who actually did stick around, is why millions of them didn’t… we got these all last year from you as well," the fan wrote to her.

They went on to mention that the increase in viewership from 2023 to 2025 is because the fans that Caitlin Clark brought to the sport stuck around even after she left the college level.

"A major part of the reason the numbers are what they are this year, is because of the Clark fans who watched last year, and stayed around. Eliminating those numbers gives zero context that she was the catalyst to the growth," the fan added

Duncan joined the podcast in an attempt set the record straight on why media outlets discuss 2023 in comparison to the 2025 season instead of comparing it to last year.

The response was targeted at an array of negative social media posts and not one specific statement.

"Getting a lot of, like, because social media has returned to its nasty form," Duncan said. "Whenever ESPN PR is talking about this year's ratings and they keep comparing it to 2023."

"There is a nice faction of social media that's, like, we're ignoring last year, we're ignoring Caitlin Clark," Duncan said. "We knew last year was anomalus. 19 million for the national championship was bananas. ... we had a feeling that it would probably not carry over to the next year."

Women's college basketball viewership is up 41% since 2022-2023. There were 2,9 billion total minutes consumed this past season, and 15 games received over 500,000 viewers.

The three biggest games of the season were UConn versus South Carolina, which received 1.8 million viewers. LSU versus Texas, which received 1.7 million viewers, and South Carolina versus Texas, which received 1 million viewers.

Duncan said that Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and the rest of the top players in the 2024 WNBA draft class are generational players.

"Caitlin Clark is like something that we've never seen before. So, it stands to reason that, as such, the ratings will be impacted when she is no longer in that space," Duncan said. "The reason that we are comparing this year's numbers to 2023 is because before last year, 2023, was setting ratings marks because it was historic in nature."

The method is used to track the real growth of the sport and not rely on just the numbers generated from Caitlin Clark and last year's class, who will no longer play in the women's college game.

Clark is primed for a bigger year with even more eyes on her in year two in the WNBA

The increase in league attention and the intrigue in Caitlin Clark, specifically, is only set to grow in year two of the WNBA. Clark is coming off an exceptional rookie season individually and as a team.

Clark earned All-WNBA first-team honors and led the league in assists in her first year while getting the Indiana Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

This season, the league plans to focus more on the development of young stars. The Indiana Fever has the most nationally televised games of any team in the league, with 40 of their 44 games being on air.