Caitlin Clark Is Just the Beginning

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Caitlin Clark’s remarkable season is how many people have been watching it.

All but two of the University of Iowa women’s basketball games have sold out or set an attendance record, according to the university’s athletic department. Iowa sold out its season-ticket allotment in August—three months before the first game—and teams hosting Clark have found her to be a one-woman boon to the local economy. An Associated Press analysis found that Iowa road games have seen a 150 percent increase in average attendance. Tickets to the February game in which Clark set the all-time college women’s scoring record were, at about $400 on the secondary market, the most expensive in the history of women’s college basketball—until the game, two weeks later, in which she passed the men’s all-time scoring leader, when the average resale ticket went for $546. Clark has made Iowa games competitive in TV viewership with NBA games and the highest-profile men’s college matchups. Heading into the NCAA tournament, she is easily the most famous player in college basketball, if not all of college sports. Read More