Angel Reese learns WNBA reality as numbers prove Caitlin Clark fact

Angel Reese’s claim that she has played a comparable role to Caitlin Clark in powering the WNBA’s boom in popularity appears to have been misguided as viewing figures fall with Clark out injured.

Angel Reese’s bold claim last season that she stands alongside Caitlin Clark as a driving force behind WNBA viewership has faced renewed scrutiny as interest in the league wanes with Clark on the sidelines.
Indiana Fever superstar Clark has missed the past five games with a quad strain, and in her absence, viewing figures have tumbled. Nielsen TV ratings data shows viewership of nationally televised WNBA games has fallen by more than 50 per cent since reigning Rookie of the Year Clark went down injured on May 24.

Reese showed her true colors this week with a gesture to ESPN interviewer Holly Rowe, while one of her teammates leapt to her defense in the face of the treatment she has received. Meanwhile, a gesture from Caitlin Clark on the sidelines while watching her play was recently spotted.

It is undeniable that Reese is one of the WNBA’s biggest stars and a significant factor in women’s basketball’s boom. Her story has long been intertwined with Clark’s, with Reese’s LSU getting the better of Iowa and Clark in the 2023 NCAA Tournament championship game, only for the Hawkeyes to get their revenge in the Elite Eight 12 months later.

But the data suggests Clark is in an entirely different stratosphere when it comes to driving TV viewership, and WNBA bosses are eagerly awaiting her return.

Reese herself sparked the debate in May 2024, when she claimed: “It all started with the national championship game and I’ve been dealing with this for two years now and understanding like yeah, negative things have been said about me, but I’ll take that because look where women’s basketball is.

“People are talking about women’s basketball that never would think would be talking about women’s basketball. People are pulling up to games, we’ve got celebrities coming to games and sold-out arenas, just because of one single game.
Just looking at that, I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role and I’ll continue to take that on and be that for my teammates. I know I’ll go down in history and I’ll look back in 20 years and be like ‘The reason we’re watching women’s basketball is not because of one person, it’s because of me, too, and I want y’all to realize that.”