The WNBA had a “modest social media presence, at best” before Fever G Caitlin Clark and the rest of the 2024 rookie class arrived, but their arrival helped fuel “a 436% jump” in the league’s social media views that season, according to Dana Hunsinger of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. In late 2023, the league recorded 373 million total official video views across all of its social media accounts. Associate Professor of Finance at Indiana Univ. Columbus and Division Head Dr. Ryan Brewer refers to the 2024 spike as a “quantum leap,” adding it was “led by real-time viral loops of the incoming rookie class and the highlight reels of Clark.” Brewer’s study, “The Structural Transformation of WNBA Media & Consumer Economics in the pre- and post-Caitlin Clark Era,” found that by the time Clark finished her rookie season, the WNBA’s social media views had “exploded to nearly 2 billion.” By Brewer’s calculation, Clark “was responsible for 26.5% of the WNBA’s leaguewide activity for the 2024 season, including attendance, merchandise sales and television.” One of every six tickets sold at a WNBA arena “were attributed to Clark.” Total TV viewership due to Clark “was up 300%, and 45% of total broadcast value came from Fever games.” The league’s merchandise “sales catapulted 500%, with Clark ranking No. 1” — followed by Dream F Angel Reese. The Fever’s regular-season game attendance “averaged more than 17,000 fans,” the first time a WNBA team had drawn more than 300,000 fans in a season. Clark’s regular-season games “were watched by 1.2 million viewers on average, which was 199% more than non-Clark WNBA games” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/13).
