By: Kaja Antic, Sports Writer
The 2024 WNBA season saw record-breaking numbers, both in viewership and attendance. This has been chalked up to what some have called the “Caitlin Clark effect” — regarding the impact the 22-year-old star has had on women’s basketball during her short career.
Clark was an icon in college, leading the University of Iowa Hawkeyes to consecutive NCAA championship finals appearances in 2023 and 2024. Both had record-breaking television viewership records: the 2023 final featuring Clark and the Hawkeyes losing to fellow 2024 WNBA rookie Angel Reese and the Louisiana State University Tigers peaked at 12.6 million viewers in the US; and the 2024 finals, where Iowa lost to South Carolina, peaked at 18.87 million viewers. The latter also had four million more viewers than the men’s NCAA basketball final. Clark is also estimated to have increased the state of Iowa’s gross domestic product by $14.4 to $52.3 million during her NCAA career, and generated $82.5 million in consumer spending.
Clark declared for the WNBA draft after her senior NCAA season in 2024, and was drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever in the most-watched WNBA draft in history. Clark’s WNBA debut against the Connecticut Sun on May 14, 2024, was the most-watched WNBA game since 2001. Only a month into the season, six television networks had record-breaking viewership numbers, with all but one of those games featuring Clark and the Fever. The 2024 regular season finale on September 19 had a WNBA attendance record of 20,711, as the Fever played the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena — a venue five times the size of the Mystics’ usual home arena.
Clark helped the Fever reach the postseason for the first time in seven seasons, though they fell to the Connecticut Sun in the best-of-three first round. She was also near-unanimously named the WNBA Rookie of the Year, earning 66 of 67 votes. The lone vote against went to her college rival Reese, now with the Chicago Sky.
Overall, the 2024 WNBA regular season was the most viewed ever, while the finals between the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty were the most-watched in 25 years. The Liberty won the 2024 WNBA championship — their first in franchise history — by defeating the Lynx in overtime of game five in the best-of-five finals series on October 20.
Though the WNBA season is now over, there are still professional women’s sports leagues across the world that deserve the same level of support the WNBA gained this past year.
Next year will mark a new beginning for professional women’s soccer in Canada, as the Northern Super League (NSL) will begin playing. Vancouver Rise FC is one of the six teams debuting across Canada in 2025, a club that Sinclair has a play in as co-owner.
Overseas women’s soccer leagues have already started their winter seasons, such as the Women’s Super League in England, Liga F in Spain, and the Première Ligue in France, along with the UEFA Women’s Champion League running until May 2025.
“Though the WNBA season is now over, there are still professional women’s sports leagues across the world that deserve the same level of support the WNBA gained this past year.”
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) begins its second season on November 30, now complete with brand new team names and logos. The inaugural PWHL season began on January 1, 2024, with 2.9 million viewers across Canada tuning in to watch Toronto host New York. Toronto later took part in an April 20 game against Montréal at the famed Bell Centre, where a crowd of 21,105 smashed the record attendance for any women’s hockey game.
The Boston Fleet, Toronto Sceptres, Ottawa Charge, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, and Minnesota Frost look to continue these successes in the 2024–25 season. There are nine neutral-site games planned for this season, the first being a January 19 Victoire–Charge matchup to be played in Quebec City. There are also a number of tournaments to follow, such as the ongoing Rivalry Series between the Canadian and American women’s hockey teams, and the 2025 Women’s World Championships hosted by Czechia in April.
A professional women’s baseball league is slated to begin playing in the United States in 2026, with six teams partaking in the inaugural season. This will be the first professional women’s baseball league in the US since the All American Girls Professional Baseball League folded in 1954.
Last but certainly not least, support your SFU Red Leafs! From team sports like softball, volleyball, soccer, and basketball, to individual sports like golf, wresting, swimming, and track and field, there’s something for everyone. Support women’s sports now, and the support will continue to grow in the future.
