It has been event after event for Caitlin Clark the Fever point guard in 2024. After the 2024 WNBA season, she was named the Rookie of the Year, and as the year ends, she was recognized as the Athlete of the Year by the prestigious TIME magazine.
Caitlin Clark’s Influence on the WNBA
Clark’s influence in the WNBA is undeniable as the first-round first-pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft has brought along with her a massive following and attracted crowds to the WNBA games. Her skill set and game intelligence continue to be a source of awe for the fans who have followed her journey from Iowa to the Indiana Fever.
Caitlin Clark’s Rookie Year
She earned the Rookie of the Year award following her record-breaking season. She became the first rookie WNBA player to have a triple-double while playing against the New York Liberty. She finished the game with 19 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds. She also set the WNBA rookie three-pointer record at 122. She also surpassed Seimone Augustus’s record of 744 points as a rookie to set a new record at 761. Her stellar performance earned her a position on the All-WNBA First Team.
College Record
During her final college year at Iowa, Clark broke the record for the highest-scoring college athlete, which Pete Maravich held at 3,667 points. She completed her college career with 3,951 points.
TIME Magazine
In TIME magazine, Caitlin uses her platform to shade light beyond herself and the greater WNBA league. Quoted, “I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is a privilege. A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been black players. This league has kind of been built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important. I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.”
Women’s Sports Viewership
The year 2024 saw a massive increase in women’s sports viewership across different leagues and tournaments. The statistics gathered across different platforms have all pointed towards a growth in the viewership of women’s sports throughout the year. The WNBA viewership started with an increase in the viewership of the draft night with an average of 2.4 million viewers, an increment of 328%. Several teams filled their arenas throughout the season, and some were forced to have games at different arenas to accommodate all their fans. Some of these occurrences can be attributed to Clark’s influence on the league, such as the Las Vegas game against the Indiana Fever.
The Aces had to move to an 18,000-seater arena over their home 12,000-seater arena. Interestingly, the WNBA viewership remained soaring high even in the games where Clark’s team was not competing. The 2024 WNBA Finals commanded a high viewership across all streaming platforms, with over one million views in each of the five-game series.
More of Caitlin Clark
The time is still young, and the world has much more to anticipate from Clark as she sets herself apart as a player whose impact on the WNBA league will last. The 2025 WNBA season starts on Friday, May 16th, 2025, with the Indiana Fever opening their season at home against the Chicago Sky at 1:00 p.m. ET.
