A’ja Wilson is TIME’s 2025 Athlete of the Year. She’s the MVP, Finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, scoring champion, and now a three-time WNBA champion. Yet, despite her accolades, the spotlight wasn’t fully on her. 

Instead, it was on the interesting stats TIME placed beside her quotes. “Viewership for both the regular season and postseason was up 5% to 6% on a per-game average across ESPN networks,” read the statement by TIME. As Rachel DeMita came across, she couldn’t help but address it on her podcast, Courtside Club. 

“They're saying viewership was up five to six percent, which by the way dropped significantly when Caitlin Clark first got injured by around 50 percent across the league,” she said.“You still saw the attendance because she was coming out pregame to sign autographs for two hours… to say that you needed her to be out of the league or injured, am I missing something? Why is this being brought up? This is crazy.”

And, she isn’t wrong. When Caitlin Clark led Indiana to a huge 102–88 win over New York, the game drew an average of 2.2 million viewers on ABC. Then, ESPN PR confirmed it was the third-most-watched WNBA game on ABC ever.

Then came May 24. Indiana lost to New York. It was when CC was limited to just 18 points, and afterwards the team announced she was out with a left quadricep strain. She missed five games then. And during that stretch, WNBA ratings dropped to 55%. So, the “Clark Effect” became undeniable.

Even Brennan, the author of On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports, reported that ticket prices for Indiana’s June 7 game against Chicago cratered, with the average price dropping nearly 71%.

As DeMita pointed out, Clark still showed up. She signed memorabilia for hours before games. She cheered loud from the sidelines. Her fans lined up hours early just to catch a glimpse of her. So if you believe DeMita, that 5–6% viewership rise was “breadcrumbing” the lasting imprint of Caitlin Clark’s influence. But, of course, some credit goes to Paige Bueckers, too.

How does Paige Bueckers help with viewership?

With Clark sidelined, the 2025 rookie class brought its own wave of excitement, led by stars like Paige Bueckers. And that was clear from the beginning itself. When Paige debuted for the Dallas Wings against the Minnesota Lynx, the game drew a record 639,000 viewers on Ion.

Even the Dallas vs. Indiana game on June 27 drew 1.1 million viewers, a stunning number for the league. But the highly anticipated Clark vs. Paige battle never happened that night, as Clark was ruled out with a groin injury. Still, Paige kept the momentum alive with her play.

And by the end of the season, she earned the 2025 Rookie of the Year award, WNBA All-Second Team honors, and secured an All-Star starter spot. She even broke the record for most points in a single game by a rookie, exploding for 44.

So, the hype was real. Clark drove the league. Paige helped sustain it. And together, they shaped one of the most-watched WNBA seasons in history.

Written by

Oajaswini Prabhu

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu