A Growing Moment for All

By Jim Gazzolo

Not all drama is good.

Not all controversy makes for strong television.

Not all rivalries are fun to watch.

Sometimes they just go too far for their own good.

Women’s professional basketball has a chance to rebrand itself, if only the players can get out of their way.

Or at least put their egos aside.

The WNBA is getting a taste of what life was like before Caitlin Clark for the next two weeks. Clark will miss at least four games over that time after suffering a leg injury. 

Ticket prices for those games have dropped almost 75 percent with the news of Clark’s absence. They will likely drop even more before tipoff.

This is after the teams have moved their games to bigger arenas in anticipation of the crowds.

The Chicago Sky, the chief rival to Clark’s Indiana Fever, went from an 11,000 or so arena to play their June 7 game against the Fever in the twice-as-big United Center. The expected sellout is now in significant doubt.

Clark is the league’s cash cow, but in her second year, the other players and WNBA officials don’t seem to embrace that fact. They are jealous of all the attention Clark has gotten.

Especially former LSU star Angel Reese. She has made a name for herself and amassed a considerable amount of money by being the anti-Clark, both on the floor and in the world of social media.

Reese believes that the league’s growth is as much about her as it is about Clark, despite the numbers saying otherwise. She, along with many other veteran players, fail to understand how Clark’s popularity is good for the rest of them.

Before the Clark, the league had a small fan base. Arenas were rarely half-full, games were not often on television, and few players were known outside of their inner circle.

The truth is, Clark has become the driving force of the WNBA. She is the main reason fresh and new eyes are watching women’s basketball. 

She is also the reason players are getting new sponsorship deals. It is simple math: more viewers equals more sponsorship dollars for players.

They should be kissing Clark’s shoes, not trying to step on her toes. Reese especially. She has made more money than any previous seventh-round pick in the league. 

No athlete has had a bigger impact on the economics of their sport than Clark, other than Tiger Woods. It took a while for other golfers to understand that as well, but they sure did reap the benefits in their wallets.

Coming into this season, the league has it all. A record television deal across multiple platforms, including CBS, is directly based on the numbers Clark and her Fever teammates have produced. 

But the egos of other players have gotten in the way. They miss the point that they receive more attention because more people are watching. If they are as good a product as they think, then the key is getting people to watch once.

The WNBA has become a more prominent platform for those who have previously been silent about women’s basketball. That’s too bad, for they are missing the point.

Clark is good business for the league; that’s what should matter to anybody associated with the WNBA. If marketed correctly, she could help the league grow all around. 

This is the perfect time and place for this to happen. 

Let’s hope the league’s brass figures that out before it is too late.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers sports in Southwest Louisiana. He is also the host of Poke Nation, which airs weekly on CBS-Lake Charles.