Caitlin Clark Effect: What it Means for the WNBA & Current Championship Odds

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She destroyed NCAA records at the University of Iowa. She went first overall at the 2024 WNBA Draft. She’s all anyone can talk about.

She’s here. She’s there. She’s every-friggin’-where.

She’s Caitlin Clark.

Chances are that if you’ve been following any online sports discussions, you’ve seen the 22-year-old’s name pop up multiple times per day over the last several months. Clark’s name is practically synonymous with the WNBA and women’s basketball at this point, leading to her impact on the sport being dubbed ‘The Caitlin Clark Effect.’

Whether you love or hate here, you can’t deny that Clark’s presence has helped take the WNBA to the next level. But what does it mean for the sport? And is her name constantly being in discussions a good thing?

Let’s take a moment to analyze the Caitlin Clark effect as well as look at how the latest WNBA Championship odds are shaping up.

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Caitlin Clark Effect: The Good

When it comes to the Caitlin Clark Effect, there are both good and bad things that stand out. With that in mind, let’s start with the positive impact she’s had on the league and women’s basketball in general.

One positive aspect of Clark’s presence is that it has led to more eyes than ever being on the WNBA. Women’s basketball players and fans alike have fought hard to bring a bigger spotlight to the league and that’s finally begun to happen. Hell, her being drafted this year was the main reason why the WNBA Draft saw its highest viewership of all time — 2.45 million viewers with a peak of 3.09 million.

That trend hasn’t even stopped now that she has a handful of games with the Indiana Fever under her belt. According to Front Office Sports, six of the WNBA’s broadcasters have already tallied their most-watched games ever and five of those records came from games featuring Clark and the Fever.

And not only is she having an impact on television viewership, but the Fever have seen their attendance grow now that Clark is in the fold. Indiana has seen 82,857 in attendance through its first five home games in 2024 compared to a total of 81,336 in 20 outings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse last season.

Not only that, but games involving Clark during the first weekend of June saw around 7,000 more people than the next closest matchup.

People going out of their way to see Clark and the Fever — whether in-person or on television — is a great thing for the WNBA. While someone may only be interested in her and the team at first, even convincing someone to watch one game is enough of a gateway to create a lifelong WNBA fan.

The fact that the 2024 Rookie of the Year favorite (-750 on BetOnline) is just as fun to watch as an NBA player like Stephen Curry also shows younger girls that they can be a cool sports icon, too.

At the end of the day, it’s clear that the Caitlin Clark Effect has created more interest in the WNBA than ever before.

Caitlin Clark Effect: The Bad

While Caitlin Clark’s joining the WNBA has brought a lot of positive changes to women’s basketball, it hasn’t been without conflict and contention.

For starters, there’s been a lot of talk about jealousy going around the rest of the league. Clark has brought a lot of eyeballs to the product, resulting in players and fans alike wondering why it took her being drafted for people to start paying more attention. After all, she was receiving more attention from public sports figures and the general public before she was even drafted than some players who have been playing and grinding for years.

It’s that jealousy that has led many WNBA fans to believe that players are taking cheap shots at Clark to vent their frustration. You only have to go back to this past weekend when the Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter gave Clark a hockey-like shoulder check, resulting in every sports media figure giving their opinion on the situation. The fact that the play was called a technical foul rather than a fragrant led to more people believing that there was a bias against Clark.

Various topics regarding race have also grown as Clark plays more WNBA games. The Atheltic‘s Jim Trotter recently wrote about how Clark’s popularity might have a lot to do with the fact that she’s a straight white woman, making her an attractive asset “to local companies and national corporations.”

Even the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson — who’s a two-time WNBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year — has discussed how Clark is having an easier time gaining recognition and respect than a Black woman who some corporations “don’t see it as marketable, so it doesn’t matter how hard I work.”

Clark also received criticism for getting a $28 million deal from Nike, which is more endorsement money than any Black WNBA player had seen. While Clark is more than talented enough to deserve that deal, it’s easy to see why people are upset that such a contract was never handed out to a woman of color.

Clark is still new to the league, so I expect the above conversations to continue. Having said that, things must become uncomfortable before they get better, so these conversations could be necessary to create an equal environment.

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WNBA Championship 2024 Odds Update (6/4)

All WNBA Championship odds are courtesy of BetOnline.

• Las Vegas Aces (+105)
• New York Libert (+165)
• Connecticut Sun (+1000)
• Minnesota Lynx (+1400)
• Seattle Storm (+1600)
• Phoenix Mercury (+330)
• Dallas Wings (+4000)
• Chicago Sky (+4500)
• Atlanta Dream (+5000)
• Indiana Fever (+6600)
• Washington Mystics (+15000)
• Los Angeles Sparks (+15000)

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Other WNBA & Basketball Betting Links

• WNBA News Page
• NBA Finals 2024 Preview
• NBA Finals 2024: 3 Must-Bet Mavericks vs. Celtics Series Props