WNBA set for 'critical' season as Clark, other highly anticipated rookies enter league

The WNBA faces a "critical season,” as sponsors are “clamoring for a piece of the W while ESPN and the other media partners are tripping over themselves trying to capitalize on the blockbuster interest generated by the last two college seasons,” according to Nancy Armour of USA TODAY. Women’s basketball has “never been more popular,” thanks to an NCAA Tournament that was “so compelling and had so many big games featuring the biggest names that its final for the first time had higher ratings than the men’s tournament.” Indiana Fever G Caitlin Clark has “become a cottage industry like Tiger, LeBron and Tom Brady, gifting the league a gold mine with her star power, commercial appeal and fan base.” Handle “all this right, and the WNBA establishes itself as a true, major league sport.” But despite beginning its 28th season, the WNBA "still often operates like a start up." The league has been, "quite frankly, abysmal” when it comes to “marketing its players, making sure its stars were household names." There is “no excuse” for the WNBA “not to thrive now.” Not when players like Clark and Chicago Sky F Angel Reese -- are “making big names for themselves in the college game and bringing all those eyes with them to the league.” This is the “WNBA’s Magic-Bird moment, and it cannot afford to waste it,” especially with a “new media rights deal looming” (USA TODAY, 4/15).

RIDING THE HYPE: In S.F., Ann Killion wrote the WNBA held its “most anticipated draft” last night, but it was “much more than a single moment.” But one “has to wonder if the WNBA is truly prepared for the tsunami that is about to sweep over it.” The Clark effect is “already being felt in the WNBA before the season even starts.” The Fever’s arena, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, was “filled to almost capacity for a draft watch party.” Even if Clark "hits a wall at some point over the summer,” women’s basketball “isn’t going to hit a wall.” This upward trajectory “didn’t happen overnight" and it “wasn’t caused by one person” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/15). The AP’s Doug Feinberg writes Clark, Reese, and a deep WNBA draft class “hope the momentum they created lifting women’s college basketball to new heights carries over to the pros.” They will “need to perform on the court for that momentum to continue at the next level and boost the league which is coming off its own strong year.” The league just saw its “most-watched Finals in 20 years," up 36% from the previous season. The league’s attendance rose 16% -- it’s "highest figure since 2018.” Throw Clark into the mix and “that number could grow exponentially” (AP, 4/16). 

MARKETING JACKPOT: AD AGE’s Jon Springer noted the WNBA is “now inheriting the record-breaking momentum of the NCAA tournament as it welcomes its newest stars." The league is “well aware it has a phenomenal marketing opportunity in Clark,” with 36 of the Fever’s 40 games set for national or streaming networks this season. The goal this season is to "make sure Clark’s fans also become fans of the WNBA.” If the “Clark momentum spills from the NCAA to the WNBA, the league could significantly increase its viewership.” WNBA CMO Phil Cook said the league is "on the receiving end of pretty heavy winds at our back.” Cook said, “Making it easier to consume the game has been a big strategy for every women’s sports platform, and it’s what we’ve been doubling down on since the day I joined -- making it easier to be a fan." He added they "have partners willing to showcase our content on their platforms, both streaming and broadcast.” Cook said as they "approach a media rights deal in the in the next couple of years, we want to set a new standard in viewership, we recognize that that this is a big opportunity for us to capitalize" (AD AGE, 4/15).

WILL THE PEOPLE FOLLOW? THE ATHLETIC’s Pickman & Vorkunov wrote Clark is the WNBA’s "most anticipated rookie in years” and a “popularity boost similar to the effect she had in women’s college basketball could follow her.” At Iowa, Clark’s impact “was even greater than her resumé,” as when she played, “every game was appointment-viewing.” Arenas sold out and television ratings records “shattered.” The WNBA has “already been on an ascent over the last few seasons with increases in nationally broadcast games, greater attendance and more media coverage.” But Clark is “expected to catalyze a surge in fandom, television viewership, attendance and media coverage like no player before.” The WNBA, which “relies on its partnerships as a large source of revenue, could see an influx of new companies interested in working with the league to be tied to Clark.” Clark likely will “have to continue to perform well and move the Fever out of their bottom-dweller status” to “further juice the WNBA economy.” Her WNBA debut comes “at just the right time,” as the league is on the “cusp of a two-year window that could determine its long-term health and future.” A new media rights deal “looms after the 2025 season" and negotiations on a new CBA are “likely coming soon, too." If the league’s economics improve, players “could benefit from that, too, in the form of playoff bonuses and more travel accommodations” (THE ATHLETIC, 4/15).

NEW ERA: On Long Island, Barbara Barker writes the league has “struggled for years to make household names out of its players,” but with Clark, they have a “household name delivered straight to them.” Clark this past season “converted skeptics into hardcore women’s basketball fans.” Her fans “will translate into big-time dollars for the league and its players.” Clark “definitely is the right player at the right time,” as she is “from the first class of women athletes to be able to benefit from NIL deals.” That means she has been "able to market herself heavily and make money off endorsements before joining a professional league." The WNBA after almost three decades as a professional league "seems poised to make the giant leap into a major professional sport” (NEWSDAY, 4/16). In Baltimore, Kyle Goon wrote fans could see this new generation of players "start to raise the tide of women’s pro basketball." These athletes have "built dynamic, powerful brands" that are "now going with them to the pros." Men’s college basketball "also used to do this: Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan were all well-known players going into the NBA who had played in high-stakes, highly viewed games" (BALTIMORE BANNER, 4/15).

ONLY THE BEGINNING: THE ATHLETIC’s Ben Pickman reported it has been a “whirlwind week for Clark.” In the span of eight days, she walked off the court at the national championship game, appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and “shuffled in and out of meetings with league and player association officials in New York to prepare for the draft and her future.” It is “just the beginning” for Clark, who will be "one of the WNBA’s most in-demand and scrutinized rookies of all time." In Indianapolis, Clark’s coming arrival “was much anticipated,” but a “lack of suspense didn’t diminish the moment" (THE ATHLETIC, 4/15). USA TODAY's Armour in a separate piece noted Clark’s current sponsors "aren’t going anywhere" and it is a "good bet she’s going to pick up even more." There will be the "inevitable adjustment period to the W" and, this year at least, there will be "veterans looking to put the high-profile rookie in her place." But what Clark did in college "has created interest in other players, and they will lift the WNBA together" (USA TODAY, 4/15).