No matter how you feel about Caitlin Clark or the rest of the WNBA, the data show she indisputably is the greatest driver of attention to women’s basketball.
This dynamic has been particularly stark in 2025, as the WNBA celebrates a new broadcast rights deal and fights for inroads on a new collective bargaining agreement with the owners, all while Clark sits out game after game due to injuries. The nagging soft tissue injuries in her lower body have limited the Indiana Fever superstar to just 13 games in her sophomore campaign, and she hasn’t been nearly herself when she has played.
As a result, despite continued growth, WNBA viewership has struggled to reach the high viewership levels in certain key moments, such as the All-Star game or national games on broadcast television. With many games still breaking into seven-digit viewership while Clark sits, it’s easy to wonder just how big WNBA audiences could be with Clark healthy.
So it’s only natural that Clark herself would feel some pressure to be on the court. Not just to right the ship for the Fever, who have been up and down without Clark in the lineup, but for the health of the league more broadly.
“It’s hard, because obviously I do feel this responsibility of being out there and playing,” Clark acknowledged this week in an interview on the Bird’s Eye View with Sue Bird podcast.
Clark added that she tries to be realistic and appreciate that the growing WNBA fanbase won’t evaporate just because she pulls a muscle, but that she wants to reward them for their loyalty.
“And not that I think there’s a fear of any of this going away. That doesn’t happen when like, LeBron or Steph get hurt. [Fans] are always going to be there,” Clark added.”But you do want to play, you want to give people something to cheer about or scream about. People spend so much time, and money, and resources to come and watch you play. And it’s been cool to see people continue to show up for my teammates, whether they’re fans of the Fever just fans of myself, they’re continuing to show up and support.”
The Fever remain one of the biggest TV draws in the league even without her, but it seems that Clark feels the growth of the WNBA most strongly when she sees the legions of fans pile into the biggest arenas in America to watch her and the Fever play. Many teams have moved games to larger venues over the past two seasons to account for the demand to see Caitlin Clark.
Those tickets don’t refund because Caitlin Clark is injured, so she tries to make up for it by spending more time pregame signing autographs and engaging directly with fans.
Still, she knows people want to see her on the court, dropping dimes and pulling up from the logo. It took a conversation with her mother for Clark to get a much-needed reality check.
“Early on with the first couple injuries, I was like, ‘I need to get back,'” Clark said. “But I think my mom texted after this last injury, and they know how hard it’s been on me, but my mom was like,’ You’ve taken so much time for everybody else, you have to take time for yourself now.’ So I’m just trying to do that the best I can, too.”
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.