When I first started thinking about my Joe Brackets Athletes of the Year earlier this month, I was focused mainly on athletes who appeared in Paris. That's typically what happens in an Olympic year, when the Olympics take center stage for two and a half weeks. And there were plenty of women who did their thing in Paris who'd be plenty worthy of the honor. Gabby Thomas and Simone Biles are two who immediately come to mind.
The more I thought about it, though, I kept coming back to a woman who wasn't in Paris, a point that was controversial in and of itself and led to plenty of discussion. As it turned out, during the Olympics was seemingly the only time all year when we weren't talking about her. That's just one of the many reasons why, for the first time ever, I'm awarding the Joe Brackets Female Athlete of the Year to the same person in back-to-back years. The 2024 Joe Brackets Female Athlete of the Year is none other than Caitlin Clark.
Caitlin Clark's impact goes far beyond what she's done on the basketball court. Her basketball talent made it all possible, of course. But she's far more than a basketball player. It's because of Caitlin Clark that the WNBA exploded in popularity in 2024...popularity that only figures to continue to grow!
Indiana averaged just over 4,000 fans a game in 2023. In 2024, more than 300,000 people attended Fever games. They regularly sold out the 17,000-seat Gainsbridge Fieldhouse. The "Caitlin Clark Effect" wasn't limited to home games, either. Attendance across the board was nearly doubled when she played, and multiple teams moved games against the Fever to the larger NBA arenas to accommodate the demand for tickets.
It wasn't just in-person attendance, either. The WNBA's TV ratings were up, as well. Indiana Fever games drew well over a million viewers per broadcast. While the ratings for non-Fever games were nowhere near that level, they were still up significantly across the board. And it was a boon for the entire league! Thanks to people tuning in for Caitlin Clark, they saw how great the WNBA's product is! Would they have found out otherwise? Maybe, maybe not.
Some of Clark's critics don't want to give her all the credit. Players like Angel Reese believe that they've had just as much of an impact on the WNBA's growing popularity as Caitlin Clark. While it's true that the outstanding rookie class of Clark, Reese and Cameron Brink has helped raise the league's profile, it's ridiculous to suggest that it doesn't happen if not for Clark's immense popularity. And, frankly, it reeks of jealousy.
Here's the other thing about it, too: what difference does it make? Caitlin Clark has risen the profile of the entire league! Everyone (including those players who are whining) has benefitted. And, to her credit, Caitlin Clark isn't stooping to that level. She's just disappointed that it's come to this instead of celebrating the new appreciation people finally have for the WNBA after all these years.
You'll notice who isn't complaining about Caitlin Clark, too. It isn't Breanna Stewart or A'ja Wilson or Brittney Griner. They get it. They know she's good for the league. That's why she was offered a record amount to join Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 women's basketball league featuring WNBA players set to launch in January. Clark declined, but it's a standing offer, so we could very well see her playing with Unrivaled in 2026.
Now let's talk about the Olympics. People were up in arms because Caitlin Clark wasn't on the 12-player Team USA roster. Their argument was that it was "stupid" not to include her because it would impact NBC's ratings for women's basketball games. The fact that they thought USA Basketball should care about NBC's ratings more than winning a gold medal (which they did) says all you need to know about how important Caitlin Clark has become to the sport of women's basketball as a whole. And, yes, she'll be a fixture of USA Basketball for the next decade.
Her impact wasn't just on the WNBA, either. It's easy to forget because it seems so long ago, but she finished her college career at Iowa as the NCAA's all-time leading scorer, men or women. Iowa's game against UConn in the Women's Final Four was an absolute classic that drew 14.2 million viewers, ESPN's largest audience for a women's basketball broadcast ever. The National Championship Game against South Carolina was on ABC and set a new record by averaging 18.9 million viewers! Overall ratings for the NCAA Tournament doubled between 2023 and 2024.
She was obviously going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. The question was how she'd adjust to the pro game. And it was definitely a struggle at first (although, the WNBA didn't help matters by giving the Fever a brutal early-season schedule). Clark eventually found her groove, though, and won WNBA Rookie of the Year. She was also a First Team All-WNBA selection. As a rookie, Caitlin Clark was one of the five best players in the entire WNBA!
After losing their first five games and starting 1-8, the Fever were 11-15 at the Olympic break. Once they came back from the Olympic break, they went 9-5 to finish 20-20 overall. Indiana ended its seven-year playoff drought, the longest in WNBA history. This is a team that won just five games two seasons ago and went 13-27 in 2023. While the turnaround can't be attributed entirely to Caitlin Clark (they also took Aliyah Boston with the No. 1 pick in 2023), her impact is obvious.
As for her individual exploits, Clark had one of the finest rookie seasons in WNBA history. She was just the fifth rookie in league history and the first since Candace Parker in 2008 to be named First Team All-WNBA. Clark's 337 assists were a WNBA single-season record. Her 122 three-pointers were the second-most for a season in league history. She led the league in assists and had two triple-doubles.
There's also the jersey sales, the logo threes that go viral, the Saturday Night Live appearance, and so much more. Caitlin Clark's impact on and off the court was so significant that she became just the second woman EVER to be named Time's Athlete of the Year. So, ultimately, there was no other choice. Caitlin Clark is your back-to-back Joe Brackets Female Athlete of the Year.
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