Caitlin Clark is undeniably the centerpiece of WNBA viewership. While women’s basketball, both collegiate and professional, has seen significant growth outside of games featuring the Indiana Fever star, Clark remains the standout attraction.
Of the 22 regular season games that attracted over one million viewers last season, Clark appeared in 19. Her final game of the season, Game 2 of the Fever’s first-round series against the Connecticut Sun, averaged 2.54 million viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA game ever on ESPN. This audience surpassed the 2.15 million viewers for the championship Game 5 of the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx, which ranks as the second-most viewed WNBA game on the same network. The phenomenon surrounding Clark resembles the surge in viewership seen during Tiger Woods’ prime in men’s pro golf.
FS1 host Colin Cowherd suggests the WNBA should capitalize on Clark’s impressive ratings. He mentioned that Clark will participate in 41 nationally televised or streamed games (out of a total of 44) next season, proposing the idea of selling a dedicated package of Caitlin Clark games.
“If I was the WNBA, I would have considered a separate television package to a network on just Caitlin Clark games.” – Colin Cowherd pic.twitter.com/aTuXa3sekC
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 24, 2025
In response to Cowherd’s suggestion, co-host Jason McIntyre expressed his agreement, stating, “I would’ve bought it.” Cowherd elaborated on his proposal, suggesting two distinct packages: one for the WNBA as a whole and another dedicated Caitlin Clark package comprising 15 to 18 games, which could be marketed to networks like HBO or Fox.
There are, of course, several hurdles to Cowherd’s idea becoming reality. Most significantly, the majority of WNBA’s media rights are entwined with NBA deals. Creating a Clark-only package would result in fewer games available for ESPN, NBC, and Amazon, who are set to contribute a combined $7 billion annually to the NBA. Such a move wouldn’t be well-received by these partners.
Furthermore, the WNBA’s secondary rights partners, CBS and ION, would likely oppose any reduction in Clark games, as they stand as the only broadcasters paying genuine market rates for WNBA content. The league would benefit more from distributing Clark game inventory across multiple partners than consolidating it into one premium deal, enhancing overall partner satisfaction and ensuring the value of non-Clark games increases.
Clearly, Cowherd’s vision, while bold, overlooks fundamental operational facts. Although games featuring Caitlin Clark attract significantly larger audiences than other WNBA matchups, prioritizing a premium package could inadvertently diminish the overall value of the league’s offerings, undermining efforts to grow its audience through diverse partnerships with various media companies.
So, while Cowherd’s insights are certainly driven by business acumen—evidenced by his success with The Volume podcast alongside his FS1 role—his proposal for maximizing Caitlin Clark’s inventory doesn’t quite align with the league’s best interests.
