Cailtin Clark, the star of the Iowa Hawkeyes and number one WNBA draft selected for the Indiana Fever, has brought massive attention to women’s basketball in the past year. While Clark was a phenomenon on the court since her freshman year at Iowa, it was not until recently that she built up a massive following.
Clark, who just finished her senior year playing basketball for the Hawkeyes, broke numerous records over her career. In this past season Clark broke the NCAA Division 1 women’s scoring record and shortly after became the record holder for both men and women with 3,685 career points. Her other accolades include setting a NCAA single season record for 3-pointers, achieving the most 30 point games by any NCAA Division 1 athlete, man or woman, in 25 years, and becoming the third player in Iowa history to have her jersey number, 22, retired (meaning no other Iowa player can wear that number).
Her greatest contribution to the sport, however, is arguably the attention she has brought to it. Viewership for this year’s Women’s March Madness tournament skyrocketed reaching 121% of the 2023 tournament’s average viewing. The final, between Iowa and South Carolina, had an average of 18.7 million viewers, the most of any women’s basketball game in history. The men’s final averaged only 14.8 million making this the first time a women’s final ever drew a larger viewership than the men’s. While this record-breaking women’s season can also be accredited to increased promotion of the women’s tournament by ESPN, Clark has brought massive attention to the game.
Clark enters the WNBA as the number one draft pick. But, her salary will be around $84,000 which is miniscule compared to the number one NBA draft pick last year who earns around $13 million per year. Fortunately, in 2025, the WNBA collective bargaining agreement expires and the players will negotiate a new deal aimed at greater media coverage, better marketing, and higher salaries. While women’s basketball clearly has a long way to go before making the same as men’s programs and receiving the same media attention, with players like Clark gathering a following, they are well on their way.
