While the consensus is that Caitlin Clark took the league to unprecedented levels as soon as she entered the WNBA, ESPN's Holly Rowe believes the change already happened before the Indiana star's arrival.

Rowe shared her thoughts on Tuesday during her appearance on Sophie Cunningham's podcast "Show Me Something." She specifically mentioned the 2016 championship series between the LA Sparks and the Minnesota Timberwolves as the moment she thought the WNBA had turned a corner.

"Because if you look at the rosters, there were like, I want to say seven Hall of Fame players in that series. To me, that was the moment we really started to rise. And yes,  I will always give Caitlin her flowers and credit because she did take it to a new level, but we were rising before that, too." Rowe said.

While Rowe is entitled to her own opinion, stats tell us a different story.

Ever since CC's arrival with the Indiana Fever in 2024, the Fever averaged a record attendance of 17,035.75 that year. According to the Sports Business Journal, “Fever games averaged 1.19 million viewers,” which were “199% better than 394,000 other games.”

Clark's huge fan following from her time with the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA also led to the WNBA averaging 657,000 viewers for a history-making 2024 regular season, its best mark this century.

And if Caitlin Clark's sensational rookie season does not make you believe she was the catalyst for the league's overwhelming success, “Across The Timeline” in-arena attendance data show that from 2016 to 2019, the numbers fluctuated between 9,000 and 11,000.

Without games during the 2020 season, the league struggled even more the following year. The Phoenix Mercury topped teams in home attendance, averaging 5,849.06 per game in 2021.

Without the COVID restrictions in 2022, the WNBA reached its usual in-arena and viewership numbers. In 2023, both figures dropped, mirroring the trend before the COVID shutdown.

While Holly Rowe's POV suggests that 2016 was the turning point in the WNBA's rise, the numbers start fluctuating in Clark's rookie season.

Rowe's comments also drew online disagreement, as fans gave the ESPN analyst a piece of their mind.

Fans Rally Against Holly Rowe's Caitlin Clark Statement Regarding the WNBA's Boom

Fans on X were not fans of Rowe being yet another person who disregarded the actual statistics showing how much Caitlin Clark influenced the WNBA, despite being an analyst.

"Caitlin is the one who brought viewership to the WNBA & the new CBA. Is that too hard for you to say? I didn't know Holly or anyone existed before CC. Stop playing games." One fan commented that Clark is the reason for the league's global exposure.

"Complete garbage Holly. Just look at the attendance and TV ratings from 2016 thru 2023." Another user shared the hard data.

"Average league viewership tripled from 2023 to 2025. But yeah, let’s keep minimizing the explosive growth by saying “we were already growing”. No wonder people hate the WNBA media." One more added in a similar thought.

“They were shutting down in Covid Year if they didn’t play. Lol.” Another user penned that the WNBA was on the verge of closing down after low ratings during the pandemic.

"Sit this one out, Holly. Cause you damn well know that’s not true.” One user said.

While Holly Rowe has often praised Clark since her college days, she might be on the wrong track here by diminishing CC's impact on the WNBA.

Read more at She Got Game!

Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Siddharth Rawat