WNBA playoff ratings plummet after Caitlin Clark goes home

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Caitlin Clark, DeWanna Bonner jaw at each other during Fever-Sun playoff game

Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark and Connecticut Sun forward DeWanna Bonner continue to jaw at each other during their Game 2 matchup

The first weekend of the WNBA playoffs without rookie phenom Caitlin Clark were a bit quieter in terms of attention and viewership. 

After Clark drew a WNBA record 1.84 million viewers to her first playoff game against the Connecticut Sun on Sept. 22, while competing with an NFL Sunday, she followed it up with another record audience of 2.54 million viewers for Game 2. Clark and the Indiana Fever lost both those games, however, sending Clark home for the offseason. 

Now, the remaining teams contending for the WNBA title are the New York Liberty, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces and MVP A'ja Wilson, the Sun and the Minnesota Lynx. 

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Sep 25, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) talks to Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) during the first half during game two of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena.  (Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images)

The first game between the Aces and Liberty, a rematch of last year's WNBA finals between two of the league's most popular and successful teams, drew an audience of 929,000, ESPN announced, which is 50% less than the Fever's Game 1 against the Sun. Still, it was historically good for any WNBA playoff game that doesn't involve Clark, as it was better than any of the TV numbers for the finals games between the two teams last year. 

Meanwhile, Game 1 of the Sun-Lynx series had an audience of just around 650,000. 

Both of those games have also fallen well behind some of Clark's regular season games in terms of viewership as well. In early September, Clark’s Indiana Fever played in front of a TV audience of 1.26 million viewers, in a game against the Minnesota Lynx that was played at the same time as a Week-1 Friday night NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers. 

In Clark's first regular season finale against the Washington Mystics on Sept. 19, a total of 20,711 fans that showed up at Capital One Arena set a new record for the highest-attended WNBA regular-season contest. 

On the TV front, Clark made the Fever the most-watched team in the WNBA by a landslide in her rookie year, as the 14 most-watched WNBA games of the season all included the Fever.

Clark's teammate point guard Kelsey Mitchell told reporters in September that Clark is the reason that she has a player has more attention and fans than before. 

INSIDE CAITLIN CLARK'S IMPACT ON MEN'S BASKETBALL

Sep 25, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) possesses the ball during the first half against the Connecticut Sun during game two of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. (Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images)

"I think the reality of it is that I don't think people would know without [Clark]," Mitchell said when asked about getting more attention and fans this season. "She's done an unbelievable job of bringing her own fans and people that support her, but, for me, I kinda laugh at it and I embrace it at the same time because I always flew under the radar. I've always kind of been that person that is very conservative, very introvert, so now I get to see the flip side of it. 

Shooting guard Erica Wheeler told reporters that Clark's presence this season has resulted in the team needing to be more resilient to scrutiny. 

"All we do is have fun with Caitlin Clark, who never takes anything seriously," Wheeler said. "I tell people all the time she’s really a kid at heart. … There’s moments where we need to be serious, and we are serious, but a majority of the time, we’re having fun. Because you gotta understand, the outside world was really trying to get inside this building. We just didn’t let it."

The fans that tuned in to watch Clark in her rookie year got to see the Iowa product break a handful of league records en route to the WNBA Rookie of The Year award. 

She broke the record for most points by a point guard in a single season in WNBA history on the final day of the regular season.

Clark previously broke the record for most points by a rookie and the league's single-season assist record. 

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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) smiles at an official Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-Imagn Images)

As the single-season record holder and league-leader in assists this year, Clark is the youngest player to ever lead the league in assists. 

Clark also led the league in 3-pointers this year, and had the second most of all time in a single season with 122. 

On top of that, she broke the record for most All-Star votes for any player in WNBA history, and became the first rookie to ever record a triple-double. 

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