Caitlin Clark once again helped make television ratings history Tuesday night during her WNBA debut for the Indiana Fever.
The Fever lost 92–71 to the Connecticut Sun in front of a sellout crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena. Even though it wasn’t broadcast on ESPN’s main channel—it was aired on ESPN2—the Fever-Sun clash brought in 2.13 million television viewers.
That is the WNBA’s highest single-game ratings since the Los Angeles Sparks and Houston Comets matched up on NBC in 2001. That game brought in 2.44 million viewers. This means, though, that the Fever–Sun game brought in the biggest audience for a WNBA cable game in history.
Clark’s teams have been breaking ratings numbers for months now. Iowa’s Final Four game vs. UConn in April was the most-watched NCAA women’s basketball game ever with 14.2 million viewers. That matchup beat out the Hawkeyes’ Elite Eight game vs. LSU, which had just reset the record with 12.3 million viewers the week prior.
The 2024 WNBA draft also saw a 307% increase in viewership as Clark was selected No. 1 by the Fever in April. A record 2.45 million viewers watched Clark and other NCAA stars be drafted on ESPN.
Clark and the Fever might continue to break viewership records as 36 of the team’s 40 regular season games this season will be broadcast on national television.
Hot news:
Gabbie Marshall and her boyfriend Spencer Touro delightedly shared their news on social media after a quiet spell, sparking joy among Caitlin Clark and their supporters.
Iowa Hawkeyes star Gabbie Marshall attended her former teammate Caitlin Clark’s WNBA home debut for the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse against the Atlanta Dream in an exhibition game on Thursday. Alongside her was her boyfriend, Spencer Touro, as the couple wore a matching No. 22 shirt.
Touro is a personal trainer in Iowa after playing baseball for the Hawkeyes and graduating in sports and diversion. On Monday, he posted a video of himself during an intense early morning workout alongside Marshall on his Instagram stories.
Touro’s IG stories
As for the Fever’s preseason finale, they clinched a hard-fought 83-80 win over the Dream. Caitlin Clark showed up with 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists. She also shared a moment with Marshall after the game:
Marshall ended her college basketball career after the 2023-24 season, as the sixth-year senior had exhausted her eligibility.
Who is Gabbie Marshall?
Gabbie Marshall is the daughter of Ernest and Marne Marshall, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has three siblings, Lily, Luke and Noah. Her father played basketball at Bellarmine University, while her mother played basketball for Aquinas College.
Marshall was recruited by the Hawkeyes from Mount Notre Dame High School after winning two state championships.
She majored in health and human physiology at Iowa while playing basketball, leading to multiple Big Ten championships and two consecutive national championship games.
The outgoing Gabbie Marshall was the victim of online bullying after the Iowa Hawkeyes won a tightly contested Final Four matchup against Paige Bueckers’ UConn Huskies, setting up a rematch against eventual national champions, the South Carolina Gamecocks, a few weeks ago.
She was the player who drew a foul for an illegal screen by UConn star Aaliyah Edwards just as Paige Bueckers was about to take a shot with three seconds remaining on the clock.
The controversial call was not taken well by most fans and even celebrities like LeBron James, who complained that it was the wrong call.
Before the championship game, Marshall revealed that the abuse that she received online necessitated her deleting her social media applications from her phone.
Her Iowa coach, Lisa Bluder, came to her defense after the incidences of online bullying spiraled.
Gabbie Marshall announced her intention to attend the University of North Carolina to pursue a master’s degree in occupational therapy.
She leaves the Iowa Hawkeyes as the player with the most games played in the history of the program, with 163, and will live in the annals of Hawkeye history for her part in the success that the program has had in the past few years.
“I feel like it just kind of overlooked the fact that I played my butt off the whole game trying to guard her,” Gabbie Marshall said. “I’ve tried to get over screens the whole game. I feel like that one play just kind of consumed everything.”
“I can’t believe people would be so immature as to attack a 22-year-old on doing their job and doing it really, really well,” Bluder said.
Hot news:
After recent controversies regarding the ‘extreme’ online bullying of WNBA fans, Angel Reese has ‘stepped up’ to ‘challenge’ it. “Give every team the same PUBLICITY cause it ain’t just one team, online bullying ain’t it AT ALL, and oh the CHICAGO SKY ARE HERE & ON THE RISE!,”
Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese has a message for the WNBA and TV networks. She wants all 12 teams in the league to get as much coverage as the Indiana Fever are getting, thanks in large part to Caitlin Clark.
Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese isn’t bashful about saying what’s on her mind. In a recent social media post, the former LSU star made her pitch to television networks and the WNBA to start building up the entire league instead of just one team.
Reese had plenty to say in a recent post on X, including an apparent concern over the media’s hyper-focus on a specific team. That appears to be in reference to the Indiana Fever, who drafted Iowa’s Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft.
As Clark joined the league, the Fever announced that 36 of their 40 regular season games would air on national television. All Reese wants is for other teams in the WNBA to get similar treatment.
“Give every team the same PUBLICITY cause it ain’t just one team,” Reese said in her post on X. She concluded by adding, “Oh the CHICAGO SKY ARE HERE & ON THE RISE!”
Reese is part of a rookie WNBA class that is expected to help grow and revolutionize the league. In addition to Reese and Clark, fans are tuning in to see Cameron Brink (Los Angeles Sparks), Kamilla Cardoso (Chicago Sky), Kate Martin (Las Vegas Aces), Rickea Jackson (Los Angeles Sparks) and Jacy Sheldon (Dallas Wings).
There’s been a ton of coverage for Clark and the Fever because of the rookie’s success at Iowa. But Reese made her point clear on social media: There’s more than one team — and one player — in the WNBA.
Reese and Cardoso will get their shot at Clark and the Fever on Saturday, June 1 when Chicago travels to play Indiana at Gainbrdige FIeldhouse at 12 p.m. ET. That game will air on ESPN.
Through two games, Reese is averaged 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Clark is averaging 17 points and 5.5 assists per game in four contests.
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Source: New York Post
