The 2024 WNBA Draft on ESPN attained record levels of viewership, amassing an average audience of 2.45 million viewers for this edition of the event. Iowa guard Caitlin Clark was selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever, a selection that will see her team with last year’s first-overall pick Aliyah Boston to try and lead the organization to a league championship. Following an opening press conference from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. on Wednesday morning, Clark made an in-studio appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN where they discussed her time on the Iowa Hawkeyes and her transition from the NCAA to the WNBA.
Clark, the all-time scoring leader for NCAA Division I Basketball, led Iowa to a second-consecutive National Championship Game. Viewership for the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament broke several records, including averaging 18.1 million viewers during the championship game between Iowa and South Carolina. Clark responded to a question about whether the outcome playing out was how she envisioned her college career and transition to the WNBA concluding.
“I feel like I always had super big goals and dreams and aspirations, but at the same time, this is a place that women’s basketball has really never been before, so no, I never really imagined it on this magnitude,” Clark said. “But also I’ve always been a supporter of women’s basketball; it’s always been something I’ve loved ever since a young age.”
Clark explained that she was hoping the Indiana Fever would win the WNBA Draft Lottery to gain the first overall selection in the WNBA Draft. She is excited to remain in the midwest and learn from her teammates, coaches and alumni, including Hall of Fame forward and former league MVP Tamika Catchings. Through it all, she will try to remain grounded and focus on making meaningful contributions to the Fever and league as a whole.
“I think where the magnitude of everything’s gone, I feel like I’ve tried to stay right in the middle,” Clark said. “One of the best pieces of advice that somebody gave me is like, ‘At the level you feel all the praise, that’s the same level you’ll feel all the hate,’ so I try to stay right in the middle. It doesn’t really bother me – I think it’s just what comes with it, and growing up, my mom always said, ‘People want to see you fail.’ That’s just kind of how our world is, which is really sad, but at the same time, I don’t think about that type of stuff.”
Show host Pat McAfee expressed that women’s college basketball has been phenomenal to watch over the last several years with the talent and storylines therein. In discussing the growth of the game, he wanted to know whether Clark perceived there to be an onus on her to bring women’s basketball to another level. Viewership of the WNBA last season reached over 36 million viewers across all national networks and was up 21% year-over-year. Moreover, the WNBA Finals on ESPN between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty averaged 728,000 viewers, marking the most-watched edition of the league championship in 20 years.
“I don’t feel like any pressure to take it to a place it’s never been before,” Clark responded. “I think that’s just going to happen with the way we’re on TV more; with the way people are following from the college game to the WNBA.”
At the conclusion of the interview, McAfee hit a long-distance shot from the stage of his set to give away four season tickets to the Indiana Fever. The team plays its first game on Tuesday, May 14 against the Connecticut Sun, which will be televised on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m. EST. Thirty-six of the 40 Indiana Fever games will be broadcast by a national television platform, including eight on linear channels owned by The Walt Disney Company (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2).
“Caitlin, I just want to let you know we’ve all been incredibly lucky to kind of watch this all take place,” McAfee said. “Can’t wait to see what you do at the W, can’t wait to see where women’s basketball goes, and thank you for getting somebody like me into the sport because it is an awesome, awesome sport, and the future is only bright, especially in this city.”
