Caitlin Clark is widely projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft on Monday night, and the league is already preparing for her arrival.
Her likely team, the Indiana Fever, has seen ticket demand and pricing surge exponentially. Opposing teams are building their schedules around Clark and the Fever visiting their arenas. And the league itself is expecting a surge in sponsorship and broadcast revenue should Clark’s talent and popularity transfer to the pros as expected.
Clark feels the pressure of the business being built around her, but she’s excited for the new challenge. Discussing her entry into the WNBA in an interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe released Monday, Clark described how she is meeting this moment just like she met so many as a collegiate player at Iowa.
“It definitely adds some pressure. You’re going into a new chapter in your life, you don’t really know what to expect,” Clark said. “But at the same time, everybody’s eyeballs are still on you. I think it presents a new challenge and a new pressure, but that’s exciting. That’s what I signed up for. I think I’m ready for this from a maturity standpoint, a basketball standpoint.”
Clark told Rowe she sees a sports psychologist and stayed grounded with family time and homework in the lead-up to the draft. Clark added that she reminds herself it’s a privilege and a joy to have basketball become her job as she graduates to the WNBA.
And if nothing else, Clark joked all those nationally televised games (the majority of the Fever’s 40 will be broadcast to a national audience), it will be much easier for her family to watch games from home.
Clark will fulfill her dream of playing in the pros Monday night in Brooklyn, at which point she can set her sights on more.
“My expectation is to be one of the best players in the world one day, if not the best player in the world one day,” Clark told Rowe.
