Shocking dip in WNBA games' ticket prices sparks 'Caitlin Clark Effect' discussion

Time of India

2 days ago

Shocking dip in WNBA games' ticket prices sparks 'Caitlin Clark Effect' discussion (Image Credit: Caitlin/Instagram)
The Caitlin Clark effect is the big elephant in the room these days. Since her debut in the WNBA, coupled with the increase in popularity of college basketball games, experts and fans are holding her responsible for all the good things happening in the WNBA.
Though she has got the support of experts and fans, and numbers are also speaking volumes about her status, WNBA's commissioner Cathy Angelbert didn't take players' effect into consideration while discussing her 'three pillars' to WNBA's success in an article she wrote for Harvard Business Review.
Caitlin Clark's absence in WNBA games adversely impacts ticket prices, sparks discussions
Caitlin Clark from the Indiana Fever is the antidote the sinking WNBA always wanted. It is clear from the decreasing popularity of WNBA games post her injury-led exit from the season for a while.
A post on X revealed the stark difference between the WNBA games' ticket prices, which showed the prices plummeted from $41 per game to merely $3 per game. The post was captioned, 'The Caitlin Clark Effect,' hinting at the rising star's massive impact.
Caitlin Clark's reigning the WNBA games has been a point of all recent discussions surrounding the league's transformed popularity. A recent report by ESPN explained the impact in detail.
It mentioned a sports lover's experience who got his tickets to the game canceled only because he lost interest in the game due to Clark's absence.
WNBA commissioner chose to sideline Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese in her Harvard Business Review article, and received backlash
Caitlin Clark's impact is evident by numbers and is also quite clear from the experts' support she is receiving. She made headlines even before the start of the season by receiving good wishes from the NBA superstar LeBron James.
However, the WNBA commissioner Cathy Angelbert's thoughts were on a different tangent.
In an article published in May 2025 at Harvard Business Review, she dissected the WNBA's growth, with her observations largely revolving around her strategies, visions, and transformative steps taken during her tenure. She talked about 'three pillars' in the article, to give a more granular look at the status the WNBA has received in recent years.
But, there was almost nil mention of Caitlin Clark's impact and that of other players who have been considered as biggest drivers of ticker prices.
The article was not received in a favorable light by satirist Ben Daniel, who discussed it on his podcast, The Ben Daniel Podcast, and considered the sidelining of Caitlin Clark by the commissioner 'sad'.
WNBA Commissioner IGNORES CAITLIN CLARK'S IMPACT As She TAKES FULL CREDIT FOR WNBA GROWTH. How Sad.
In this podcast, he also mentioned FOX TV's expert, Michael Mulvihill's old tweet, which made an eye-opening comparison of viewership achieved by Caitlin Clark's games against other games. The tweet read:
'WNBA viewership season-to-date, all networks:
Caitlin Clark games - 1.184 mill
All other games - 428k
All games this time last year - 301k'
All these discussions seem valid given the electric nature of the games Caitlin Clark had at the start of the season.
Her games, filled with drama, also served as good entertainment to the viewers.
Also Read:
Is Caitlin Clark quietly powering a basketball revival across Indiana's WNBA and NBA teams as a lucky charm?
Caitlin Clark's run in the current season has taken a short break due to her injury. She had to be sidelined for the coming games till further development or announcement from her team Indiana Fever. As a response to her absence from the games as suggested by numbers and experts' opinions, the tickets to WNBA prices plummeted like never before, leading the analysts to consider it a 'Caitlin Clark Effect.'