The numbers continue to tell the same story about Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
As contentious as the debate surrounding them gets at times, their rivalry that began in college with Iowa and LSU is good for the business of women’s basketball. From record crowds to record TV ratings to record-breaking TV contracts, the sport’s popularity is soaring because of how many people are invested in them.
And a lot of those new fans are buying Clarke and Reese jerseys.
WNBA merchandise sales are up 500% this season, the Sports Business Journal reported earlier this week, and its rookie stars are fueling a record pace. Clark (No. 1) and Reese (No. 2) have the league’s top-two selling jerseys this year, part of a 1,000% increase in player-specific merchandise sales, according to Fanatics.
It’s the latest proof of the immediate impact Clark and Reese have made, on the court and on the bottom line of basketball.
First, they drove record ratings at the NCAA women’s basketball tournament in consecutive years — right as the NCAA tripled its previous fee with ESPN for the media rights package that includes the women’s basketball tournament.
Then, they brought record ratings to the WNBA — starting with the WNBA draft, continuing into the first half of the regular season and culminating earlier this week with the most-watched WNBA All-Star game of all-time, when Clark and Reese played together with the WNBA All-Stars and beat Team USA.
The WNBA recently agreed to a record-$2.2 billion television contract that the head of the WNBA players union said might have undervalued the league’s worth at the moment. ESPN will pay the WNBA $200 million annually for the next 11 years, as compared to about $30 million per year during the current deal.
Clark and Reese have been the best two rookies in the league this season after becoming household names while playing at Iowa and LSU.
Clark leads the league in assists (8.2), leads the Indiana Fever in scoring (17.1 points), set a WNBA record for assists in one game (19) and became the first rookie in WNBA history to register a triple-double in a game.
Reese set a new WNBA record for consecutive double-doubles (15) and averaged 13.5 points and 12 rebounds per game for the Chicago Sky before the league’s All-Star and Olympic break.
It’s clear, by this point, their jerseys will be a staple in WNBA arenas for the foreseeable future.
