What has seemed imminent for a while is more than confirmed now. The Clark-Reese rivalry is here to stay. The eyes that followed them from the NCAA to the WNBA have heavily contributed to the league’s ascent, with women’s basketball projected to be the highest earning women’s sport this year. While their storied rivalry has done numbers everywhere they’ve been, their latest bout has surpassed even the most legendary of battles.
The season opener between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky was expected to bring in high viewership, continuing on the trend that began last year, and it did just that. The game at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse Arena garnered an average of 2.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched regular-season game across ESPN networks in 25 years. The only matchup that had more viewers this century was Game 5 of the 2024 Finals between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx. The rise in popularity caused by these stars has seen even broadcasting partners betting on them, with the Fever playing 41 of their 44 games on national television this year. But while the viewership numbers can get disregarded by some owing to the recent rise in the league’s popularity, comparison to a classic matchup proves women’s basketball is here to stay.
While the New York derby in MLB broke viewership records, becoming the most-watched edition of ESPN Sunday night baseball in seven years, it still wasn’t a match to the women’s. The game drew in an average of 2.5 million viewers and was a bright spot for the MLB, considering the declining viewership. The game between the Yankees and the Mets was sure to help the league, considering the rivalry between the sides.
The flames were further fanned in the offseason when outfielder Juan Soto left the Yankees for the Mets, signing a massive 15-year, $765 million contract. His return to the Yankees added another layer of spice to the game and fueled record numbers. But with the clash between women’s basketball’s most popular stars overtaking even the classics, it appears the WNBA has its own rendition of the Bird-Magic rivalry blooming as we speak.
Although CC and Reese are new to the league, they’ve been the catalyst for some of the most-viewed games in women’s basketball already. A trend that began in college. When Clark’s Iowa defeated Reese’s LSU in their final college showdown, it broke the viewership record, pulling in an average of 12.3 million viewers, solidifying their status as must-watch television. The game that previously held the record belonged to their Final Four matchup from 2023, during which Reese hit CC with the infamous “You can’t see me” celebration.
They carried that over to the WNBA as their game last September pulled in 2.25 million people, and while viewership never becomes a problem, stadium capacity does. The games between their sides were so popular the Chicago Sky have decided to move their games to the United Center to accommodate more fans.
There have been attempts of hashing the rivalry out ever since it started, with both shying away from the tag and pointing towards the positional disparities between the two. However, a hard foul on Reese by Clark under the basket flared up emotions. The incident once again establishes what the fans have long wanted to hear. The rivalry is real and it isn’t going anywhere. But we still do have people who don’t see it as the same.
Angel Reese – Caitlin Clark rivalry still in question
The talks of the rivalry being ‘dead’ emerged even before the season had taken off. A part of it seemed to have stemmed from what Caitlin Clark had said herself — neither do they play the same position, nor do have they guarded each other. Rachel DeMita was one such analyst to bring that up. “I think that rivalry is actually done. Never truly made sense. It was fabricated from college,” she’d say. But then came Stephen A. Smith.
On The Rich Eisen Show, the ESPN analyst listed down three reasons to assert that Angel Reese – Caitlin Clark rivalry was no rivalry. “Not when you lose by 35 points,” he says, referring to the 93-58 win. He believes Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever are on two different levels for his first argument. Well, the early predictions do speak of that. While the Stephanie White-led squad makes ‘championship contender’ talks, Tyler Marsh is aiming for a playoff spot at best. So Smith is quick to dismiss that part.
His next argument is that, as good as the Chi-Town Barbie may be, “Caitlin Clark is on the next level.” He commends Reese for her rebounding skills and sees a bright future for her in the league, but with the records the Iowa-native has been breaking, he can’t help but reiterate she is on the next level. To add to his case, Clark just surpassed Sabrina Ionescu to become the player to have score the most 25 points and 10 assists games. But then came a brutal take. “Angel Reese’s popularity in large part is attributed to her behavior towards Caitlin Clark,” he adds.
Whatever one may believe, or as much as the viewership numbers may suggest the presence of a rivalry, the two stars in question are far from being on board. They recognize each other’s competitiveness and that is where they are stopping at.
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