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The 2024 draft for the WNBA gained’t happen till 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday. However Caitlin Clark’s influence on the league is already being felt in a giant approach.
Clark was inescapable through the NCAA match. With the draft, the phenomenally gifted Iowa Guard, who’s the all-time main scorer in school basketball, is a certain wager to be drafted by the Indiana Fever.
The understanding of that draft choose is having huge ripple effects. Ticket costs for the group, as an example, are surging. Whereas single recreation ticket gross sales don’t begin till 4 p.m. this afternoon, the secondary market is already energetic. Flooring seats on StubHub are going for as a lot as $515. And the typical resale worth for the 2024 season is triple what it was a yr in the past, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Clark’s arrival is benefitting different groups as properly. Ticket gross sales for matchups with the Fever are prompting some modifications. The Las Vegas Aces, as an example, are shifting their July 2 matchup towards Indiana to T-Cellular Enviornment, which can open up one other 7,100 seats for followers to fill.
And although the Fever had the worst report within the Japanese Convention final yr (coming in at an abysmal 13-27, giving them first choose on this yr’s draft), the group goes to be all over the place quickly. Some 36 of the 40 Fever video games will probably be broadcast nationally or carried on streaming providers this yr, greater than another group.
ESPN is poised to learn from Caitlin Clark’s movie star as properly. The channel (and its offshoots) will broadcast eight Fever video games this yr—and it’s additionally the tv house of the WNBA Draft (additionally streaming on ESPN+, SlingTV, and FuboTV.) Final yr noticed a report viewership of 572,000 for that kickoff occasion and is prone to hit a brand new excessive immediately.
Amazon (with 4 Fever video games on its schedule), ABC and CBS might additionally see scores bumps.
The massive winner, although, might be NBA TV, which can present a considerable variety of Fever video games, greater than another service. A League Cross subscription starts at $15 per month (after a seven-day free trial). And Clark’s arrival might spur extra individuals to enroll.
Anticipate to see Caitlin Clark’s face in much more locations, as properly, as she indicators extra sponsorship offers. Due to NCAA rule modifications permitting athletes to revenue whereas nonetheless at school, she already has offers with Nike and State Farm Insurance coverage, giving her annual earnings of $818,000. Ought to her movie star proceed to develop as she performs within the league, that determine will solely develop.
Clark is the headliner of this yr’s draft, and maybe this season. She’s already a popular culture drive, even displaying up on Saturday Night Live‘s “Weekend Update” this previous week to humble Michael Che for his jokes about ladies’s basketball. Nonetheless, she’s hardly the one star who will probably be drafted this night.
LSU’s Angel Reese is a lock for a High 10 draft choose, with most forecasters expecting she’ll be picked up by the Chicago Sky. A protracted-time rival of Clark, she led LSU to an NCAA championship final yr, due partly to her excellent rebound abilities. South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso, in the meantime, is extensively anticipated to go to the Los Angeles Sparks because the quantity 4 choose.
What makes the draft so thrilling, although, whether or not it’s the WNBA or NFL, is issues don’t at all times go how the consultants are predicting. Whereas nobody is keen to wager on Clark being something however the quick first choose, the opponents she’s going to face as soon as she strikes into the professional world won’t be those she expects.
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