INDIANAPOLIS — Fever star Caitlin Clark won’t play in the WNBA All-Star Game. Fans will miss her brilliant passing, deep shooting range and showmanship.
And now they’ll also have to deal with the sea monster of a question that swims beneath every WNBA conversation: Can the league draw viewers without her?
Let’s look at the numbers. Viewership is up 9% this season, according to Sports Business Journal. That’s on top of the major bump last year when Clark, Sky forward Angel Reese and other high-profile rookies entered the league.
So, how much of that growth is Clark? This season, seven of the eight most-watched WNBA games have featured the Fever. But here’s the twist: In three of those seven games, Clark didn’t play. She has been battling injuries and has missed nearly half the season so far.
And non-Fever WNBA games? They’re averaging more viewers than the NHL did last season.
Is that a yawn at the NHL comparison? Sure, it doesn’t stoke the same culture-war hysteria as NBA comparisons would. But it’s actually useful. The NHL is a mature, stable sports league with more than $1 billion in media deals — five times what the WNBA gets. And it’s sustaining that on fewer viewers than the WNBA has.
That’s encouraging — especially because there’s more to life than viewership. Cultural relevance also matters. Who’s more likely to show up on your McDonald’s bag: hockey greats Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, or Reese and Wings star Paige Bueckers?
The WNBA also is still growing — expanding into five new cities by the end of the decade. That it’s already drawing bigger numbers than the NHL while only being in 13 markets — and doing it without its biggest name on the floor — says plenty.
Are we done with this uniquely WNBA exercise yet? Is anybody slicing up NBA viewership numbers and asking how they look without the Warriors? What were the NBA All-Star Game ratings the year Steph Curry pulled out?
Nobody cares.
Because we all understand how sports work: Leagues are tied to their stars. When a big name doesn’t play, fewer people watch.
The WNBA is no exception. Last year’s All-Star Game drew 3.4 million viewers on ABC. Clark was there and missed all her three-point attempts. Her teammate Arike Ogunbowale hit eight of them and lit up the Olympic team that left her off. It was great television.
This year’s game may draw fewer viewers without Clark, who led all players in fan votes. But even if viewership drops by half — unlikely for a Saturday night prime-time slot on ABC — it would still outdraw the NHL All-Star Game.
Clark’s absence is a loss. So are the absences of Dream star Rhyne Howard and Mercury star Satou Sabally, both out with injuries.
But the replacements — Brittney Sykes, Brionna Jones and Kayla McBride — are no slouches. And with no replacement named for Reese, who has been managing a leg injury, she likely will play, too.
Clark will still be at the events in Indianapolis, just not in uniform. As Sabally put it, she’ll be at the most important event of the weekend: the negotiations on a new collective-bargaining agreement between players and the league.
