The Caitlin Clark phenomenon is now transcending geographical boundaries.
The Fever star has captivated female basketball fans in Iceland. According to Iceland publication Visir, several fans gathered for a watch party on September 15 when Clark scored a career-high 35 points in the 110-109 victory over the Dallas Wings. It was the same night when the Iowa alum broke the WNBA’s all-time rookie scoring record.
The watch party, held at a pub in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, was organized by Silja Ulfarsdottir and Helena Sverrisdottir, two athletes who’ve represented Iceland at various global events. Sverrisdottir is, in fact, regarded as Iceland’s greatest female basketball player ever. She played college hoops for TCU between 2007 and 2011.
The plan for a watch party was discussed after the two athletes discussed on Ulfarsdottir’s podcast if enough people in Iceland were interested in the WNBA. After the September 15 event, which saw a healthy turnout of fans, they got their answer.
“It was kind of fun when Helena came to my podcast we were wondering if people were interested in the WNBA. I would say that we know the answer today,” Ulfarsdottir said.
Sverrisdottir agreed with her partner’s sentiment.
“I think [viewing of women’s sports] could be a lot better, but we show with tonight that the interest is there and maybe we need more supply. Hopefully, this will be an event that ignites a spark,” Sverrisdottir added.
Young Fans Rooting for WNBA
The Iceland publication also released a video of two young fans talking to a reporter at the watch party. While one fan was seen wearing Clark’s No. 15 Fever jersey, the other fan was rocking Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic’s No. 77 jersey.
Clark Report, a fan account on X, shared a clip of the video.
The organizers, Ulfarsdottir and Sverrisdottir, made it clear that the September 15 event was only the start and they had plans to host more WNBA-related watch parties in the future. The two ex-athletes have been campaigning for Icelandic youngsters to embrace women’s sports, especially since Clark and Angel Reese entered the WNBA at the start of the 2024 season.
In an earlier interview, Sverrisdottir told Visir’s Aron Guomundsson that Clark and Reese were inspirations for female athletes across the world.
“The two of them may have brought up this crazy increase in viewership and popularity [to the WNBA],” she said Reese and Clark, explaining why they had drawn in fans of all ages in Iceland.
“You can feel the solidarity. Girls, women, girl dads. All these people have been looking for an event like this and hopefully, this will be just the first of many events where we are stepping together to take this to the next level,” she said on the significance of the watch party.
Caitlin Clark Has Fans Across the World
The WNBA superstar’s global fanbase isn’t restricted to just the Nordic island of Iceland. While responding to the reports of Icelandic women cheering for Clark, a fan from the Philippines revealed on X that his mother is “obsessed” with the Fever guard.
Similarly, news channels in Greece covered Clark’s controversial omission from the Team USA squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Clark can continue to win over more fans worldwide when she leads the Fever to the WNBA playoffs starting on September 22. Indiana is slated to face either Lynx, Aces or Sun in the first round. Fever will be returning to the playoffs after eight years, ending the longest active playoff drought in WNBA history.
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