The primary weekend of the WNBA playoffs with out rookie phenom Caitlin Clark have been a bit quieter when it comes to consideration and viewership.
After Clark drew a WNBA report 1.84 million viewers to her first playoff recreation in opposition to the Connecticut Solar on Sept. 22, whereas competing with an NFL Sunday, she adopted it up with one other report viewers of two.54 million viewers for Recreation 2. Clark and the Indiana Fever misplaced each these video games, nevertheless, sending Clark house for the offseason.
Now, the remaining groups contending for the WNBA title are the New York Liberty, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces and MVP A’ja Wilson, the Solar and the Minnesota Lynx.
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Sep 25, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) talks to Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) throughout the first half throughout recreation two of the primary spherical of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Solar Area. (Paul Rutherford-Imagn Pictures)
The primary recreation between the Aces and Liberty, a rematch of final 12 months’s WNBA finals between two of the league’s hottest and profitable groups, drew an viewers of 929,000, ESPN introduced, which is 50% lower than the Fever’s Recreation 1 in opposition to the Solar. Nonetheless, it was traditionally good for any WNBA playoff recreation that does not contain Clark, because it was higher than any of the TV numbers for the finals video games between the 2 groups final 12 months.
In the meantime, Recreation 1 of the Solar-Lynx sequence had an viewers of simply round 650,000.
Each of these video games have additionally fallen nicely behind a few of Clark’s common season video games when it comes to viewership as nicely. In early September, Clark’s Indiana Fever performed in entrance of a TV viewers of 1.26 million viewers, in a recreation in opposition to the Minnesota Lynx that was performed similtaneously a Week-1 Friday night time NFL recreation between the Philadelphia Eagles and Inexperienced Bay Packers.
In Clark’s first common season finale in opposition to the Washington Mystics on Sept. 19, a complete of 20,711 followers that confirmed up at Capital One Area set a brand new report for the highest-attended WNBA regular-season contest.
On the TV entrance, Clark made the Fever the most-watched crew within the WNBA by a landslide in her rookie 12 months, because the 14 most-watched WNBA video games of the season all included the Fever.
Clark’s teammate level guard Kelsey Mitchell instructed reporters in September that Clark is the rationale that she has a participant has extra consideration and followers than earlier than.
INSIDE CAITLIN CLARK’S IMPACT ON MEN’S BASKETBALL
Sep 25, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) possesses the ball throughout the first half in opposition to the Connecticut Solar throughout recreation two of the primary spherical of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Solar Area. (Paul Rutherford-Imagn Pictures)
“I feel the fact of it’s that I do not suppose folks would know with out [Clark],” Mitchell mentioned when requested about getting extra consideration and followers this season. “She’s finished an unbelievable job of bringing her personal followers and people who help her, however, for me, I kinda chuckle at it and I embrace it on the identical time as a result of I all the time flew below the radar. I’ve all the time type of been that person who may be very conservative, very introvert, so now I get to see the flip facet of it.
Taking pictures guard Erica Wheeler instructed reporters that Clark’s presence this season has resulted within the crew needing to be extra resilient to scrutiny.
“All we do is have enjoyable with Caitlin Clark, who by no means takes something critically,” Wheeler mentioned. “I inform folks on a regular basis she’s actually a child at coronary heart. … There’s moments the place we must be severe, and we’re severe, however a majority of the time, we’re having enjoyable. Since you gotta perceive, the skin world was actually making an attempt to get inside this constructing. We simply didn’t let it.”
The followers that tuned in to observe Clark in her rookie 12 months received to see the Iowa product break a handful of league information en path to the WNBA Rookie of The 12 months award.
She broke the report for many factors by some extent guard in a single season in WNBA historical past on the ultimate day of the common season.
Clark beforehand broke the report for many factors by a rookie and the league’s single-season help report.
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) smiles at an official Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, throughout a recreation between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Solar at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-Imagn Pictures)
Because the single-season report holder and league-leader in assists this 12 months, Clark is the youngest participant to ever lead the league in assists.
Clark additionally led the league in 3-pointers this 12 months, and had the second most of all time in a single season with 122.
On high of that, she broke the report for many All-Star votes for any participant in WNBA historical past, and have become the primary rookie to ever report a triple-double.
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