Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have seemingly begun their sophomore season on the note that many expected. The Fever guard has improved her stats and even increased her 3-point shooting from 34.4% to 40%. The Sky forward becomes the second-youngest WNBA player to record a triple-double and also becomes the fastest player in league history to reach 500 career points and 500 rebounds. Despite them setting records after their rookie season, Matt Barnes echoes his appreciation in favor of CC.
The reason is simple. “She is must-watch TV.” Barnes continued on the Skip 1 on 1 show, “I think, when she was hurt a few weeks ago, they said viewership dropped by 52%. You know what I mean. She has teams that you know, when she comes into town, they’re going to bigger arenas to play in, and she’s selling out. And their ticket surges have been going crazy. Her jersey sales are going crazy.” Whatever the former champion stated about the Caitlin Clark effect is true. Let’s check out the jersey sales situation, which was a painful experience for fans.
The problem of plenty suits this situation very well. As per Front Office Sports, “a message posted to the teams’ shared online store announced that, “Due to the extremely high volume of online orders, we’re temporarily scaling back the number of products listed on our website to ensure we can fulfill existing orders as quickly as possible.” This response was for both the Pacers and the Fever fans. As the men’s team is competing in the finals. The women’s team reached the finals of the Commissioner Cup, the first time in the franchise’s history.
To shed more light on the jersey sales crisis, a higher executive stated the following. “It’s impossible to prepare for something like this,” said Todd Taylor, President of business operations for Pacers Sports & Entertainment. “We scaled back the number of products available online because we’ve been getting 1,000 orders per night online—often multiple items per order. Each day we need to restock the store so we have merchandise available for games” in the arena. Which is why even Matt Barnes had high praise for CC.
“You know Angel Reese has been able to come in and do her thing, but I think Caitlin Clark is on a different level…But she’s fearless. Her ability to shoot the ball, pass the ball, I think she you know, as she continues to grow, she’s going to have a chance to be one of the better players we’ve ever seen in this women’s game.” Now that you know about the jersey sales situation, let’s understand if there was a drop in viewership when the Fever superstar was injured.
Analyzing the Caitlin Clark effect
On May 24, during a game against the New York Liberty, the Indiana Fever superstar suffered a left quad injury. After experiencing intense pain, the 23-year-old underwent an MRI that revealed a quadriceps strain. Bad news for the team in terms of their star player missing, but also for the league in general. For context, some reports had the league break the $1 billion mark in player-related revenue. The epicenter of the said revenue model? Caitlin Clark.
As the report revealed that the Des Moines native projected revenue could be up to $875 million. But her absence harmed WNBA TV ratings by a significant margin. According to USA Today, nationally televised WNBA viewership is down 55% since her injury. Additionally, her own team also suffered off the court as their viewership was down 53%. Yes, from averaging 1,810,000 viewers to 847,000 is a monumental drop. Which Matt Barnes eloquently put it while speaking to Skip Bayless.
Even though CC and Bayou Barie are creating their path in their own way, the Catlin Clark effect has a tangible impact. This not only relates to her team but extends to the WNBA league in general.
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