WNBA Commissioner Dubs Caitlin Clark the ‘Most Popular Athlete in America’

Ahead of the 2025 WNBA season, commissioner Cathy Engelbert is fully embracing the hype around Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark.

In an interview on the “Bill Simmons Podcast” released on Wednesday, Engelbert declared Clark the “most popular athlete in America,” and credited her for uplifting the rest of the WNBA.

“It is a balance, but she’s a generational talent,” Engelbert said. “No league is ever about one player, but in this case, Caitlin brought tens of millions of new viewers into the W. And there’s no denying that impact.”

By nearly every measure, Clark’s 2024 rookie season was a rousing success. She averaged 19.2 points, was named an All-Star and won Rookie of the Year — all while becoming the league’s most marketable star.

With Clark as its driver, the WNBA attracted more fans than ever before. Viewership hit an all-time high, with more than 54 million unique viewers across various networks, while attendance increased 50% year-over-year to reach its highest level in 22 years.

The increased demand helped the league secure a $2.2 billion media rights deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBCUniversal, valued at $200 million annually for 11 years.

WNBA Hopes to ‘Sustain Momentum’ of Record Viewership

With the arrival of UConn star Paige Bueckers and the return of several other prominent names, Engelbert hopes to build off the WNBA’s watershed moment. At the center of those plans is Clark, who begins her second season Saturday (3 p.m. ET) when the Fever host the Chicago Sky.

Indiana’s 91-83 victory over Chicago last June was the most-viewed WNBA game in 23 years, averaging 2.3 million viewers. Saturday’s rematch will be the first of 41 Fever games scheduled to be broadcast on national TV this season, an unprecedented total as part of the league’s expanded schedule.

Engelbert also realizes that while Clark is a big part of the equation, she can’t be the only part. To emphasize her point, Engelbert pointed to USC star JuJu Watkins, who’s likely to miss a majority of her junior season following an ACL tear in the NCAA Tournament.

“(NBA commissioner) Adam (Silver) and I talk all the time about this, she’s the most popular athlete in America. … But again, you do want to balance it because obviously you saw what happened with JuJu Watkins,” Engelbert said of Clark. “You want to balance making sure that you’re also promoting your other stars like an A’ja Wilson, like a Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier. …

“That’s why this year is sustain and gain. Sustain the momentum we had last year and gain even more new viewers.”

Clark Has Eyes on a Championship

As if expectations weren’t already high enough, they rose again when Clark was asked earlier this month how she plans to define success in 2025.

“A championship,” she boldly stated.

The Fever snapped their eight-year playoff drought last season. Following a 20-20 finish, they were knocked out in the first round by the Connecticut Sun.

Indiana was among the WNBA’s most active teams during the offseason. In addition to adding talent via free agency (DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, Sydney Colson) and trade (Sophie Cunningham), the Fever re-signed two-time All-Star Kelsey Mitchell and re-hired coach Stephanie White.

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