Women’s Basketball Booms Thanks to The Caitlin Clark Effect

A “controlled chaos” scene was described.

Owner Jenny Nguyen said that hundreds of people lined down the street and around the corner to enter the Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon, the first bar in the world – just showing women’s sports.
The fact that it fell on Monday did not stop the throng from getting excited or delay them from downing “three times” as usual.
Attended to see an incredible women’s collegiate basketball game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and LSU Tigers, starring superstars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, who were
More than 12 million people tuned in, from the Sports Bra audience to celebs LeBron James and Travis Scott. Men’s or women’s, among other college basketball games, it was among the most viewed ones ever.
“It was electric,” Ms. Nguyen remarked, remembering the scene as the University of Iowa defeated Louisiana State University—a triumph spearheaded by Clark with an amazing 41 points.
For decades, I have been following women’s basketball. It feels like everyone else is only catching up; it’s about darn time,” she said.
Beginning 1939, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has been holding the basketball tournament sometimes referred to as March Madness.
Within three weeks, 68 of the top college teams will have one champion reduced from their ranks.

Millions of people watch games all around for days on end during the yearly event, a media frenzy.
That only applied to the men’s tournament for decades. Not any more.
Reaching as high as $11,000 (£8,736), women’s championship ticket prices this year cost twice as much as men’s on average.
According to Front Office Sports reporter Amanda Christovich, generational talent like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is one of the reasons behind this “watershed moment in women’s basketball”.
The other, she remarked, is that the drive toward female equality in collegiate athletics has peaked.
Signing a TV contract with ESPN in 2024, the NCAA valued the women’s tournament at $65 million yearly, more than ten times the previous amount. Less than five years ago, national broadcasts did not even allow one to view every game of the women’s NCAA tournament.
Greater stars now have more stage on the larger platform. And Clark, maybe the most well-known name in the sport today, has been instrumental in generating the current excitement.
More than any other college athlete, male or female, the senior has scored in her career—more than 3,900 points.

The Caitlin Clark effect: what is it?

Considered among the best basketball players in collegiate history, Caitlin Clark is the 22-year-old headline-grabbing, trash-talking, fan-charming Iowa guard.
She prevails in contests. Many games. surpasses records in breaks. Many files. And loads sell-out numbers of people into stadiums ready to see her.
Many people want to see her famous three-point shots from far distances.
Sometimes in the middle of the court, standing dozens of feet from the basket, she easily shoots the ball over her opponent’s heads. The distance sometimes defies the typical range of an NCAA female player.

Professional athlete Steph Curry held the record until Clark just smashed it for the most three-point shots scored in a single season.
Her star power, underlined by almost a million Instagram followers, has attracted a lot of fresh sportsmen to the game.

To see her, people spend hundreds of dollars and travel thousands of kilometers.
Her impact phenomena has been labeled the Caitlin Clark Effect.
Like Taylor Swift, her visits not only raise ticket costs but also cause hotel rates to soar and pressure surrounding restaurant reservation lists.

“She is among once in a generation players. She is remarkable. She is viral,” Ms. Christov remarked. “She’s the conduit by which many have found women’s college basketball this year.”

But Ms. Christovich also said, “Would Caitlin Clark have attracted the attention she is now getting 20 years ago? Definitely not”.
“And that’s not because she wouldn’t have been as exceptional. People weren’t paying attention, she added.

Ms. Christov said that for decades the women’s competition has been “treated like a second-class event”.
One instance was the prohibition of the women’s tournament from using the NCAA’s trademarked March Madness emblem until the 2022 season. And it was also more difficult to find on TV until lately, Ms Christowicz added.

Millions for college athletes

Combining state legislation with NCAA regulation changes in 2021 created never-before-seen chances for college athletes to profit from the rights to their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
Soon after came six-figure endorsement deals signed by athletes, some still teens. Leading companies like Nike and State Farm started working with elite athletes like Caitlin Clark.

“There are a few women athletes making millions of dollars annually from NIL each year,” said Blake Lawrence, CEO of Opendorse.com, a website for NIL contracts.
Athletes in national endorsement deals also frequently front more people more regularly, showing them on TVs around America in advertisements and games.
And women have an advantage with their social media presence, a “big component” in most NIL negotiations, Mr. Lawrence remarked.
Still, Ms. Christov said, the NCAA system keeps female collegiate basketball players back in many respects.

Men’s basketball teams can collect money for their conferences the farther they progress through the tournament. The teams comprised of women are not.
For the top four teams still in each men’s and women’s competition this year, that comes to about $40m difference.

“What’s really amazing about the women’s tournament success, is that it’s happening despite the obstacles,” Ms Christovich remarked.

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