Caitlin Clark's rise to stardom has everything to do with her on-court accomplishments. But the spotlight can sometimes stray away from the court. This week, the Clark discourse made its way to prime-time programming on ESPN and CNN, focusing on her role in the WNBA's growth and the league's part in protecting its greatest asset after a dirty foul on Clark went viral.
Since she took college basketball on an unprecedented journey featuring consecutive national championship appearances, anything Clark does - or anything that happens to her - garners national attention. That's contributing to an epic rise in the WNBA's ratings this season. Saturday's matchup between the Indiana Fever, the team that selected Clark first overall at April's draft, and the Chicago Skyaveraged 1.53 million viewers on ESPN. Clark's WNBA debut in May averaged 2.12 million viewers.