How the "Caitlin Clark Effect" Has Evolved over Time

Clark and Iowa women's basketball have sold out every game this season — home and away — with road attendance increasing by 150 percent.

(co-byline: Max Rego / The Messenger)

The Caitlin Clark show has been a highlight of the 2023-24 women’s college basketball season.

Clark, in what could very well be her final season at Iowa, has somehow upped her game as a senior, averaging a career-best 31 points per game on slightly improved efficiency (48.3% from the field). 

Thanks to her nightly heroics, the No. 3 Hawkeyes are among the handful of national title contenders, sitting at 16-1 and 5-0 in Big Ten play. From triple doubles galore to step-back game-winners, Clark is putting an entire program on her shoulders, and fans are following along with constant curiosity as to what she’ll do next.

At home, and on the road. 

It’s no surprise, of course, that Iowa fans have turned out in droves to Carver-Hawkeye Arena. All of Iowa’s regular season home games sold out back in August – the first time the program sold out a full season. Then in October, more than 55,000 fans packed into Kinnick Stadium — home to the school’s football team — for the Hawkeyes’ preseason exhibition against DePaul. 

But it isn’t just Iowa fans who are showing up for Clark and co.

A record-tying 14,876 people showed up to watch Iowa at Purdue on Wednesday night at Mackey Arena, marking the fourth ever sell out in the history of Purdue women’s basketball.

Of the Hawkeyes’ 16 games to this point, five have been on the road – and all five have brought sellout crowds: Northern Iowa (Nov. 12), Iowa State (Dec. 6), Wisconsin (Dec. 10), Rutgers (Jan. 5) and Purdue (Jan. 10). 

Compared to the average attendance for those five programs’ other home games this season, you can see the Clark effect in action. When Iowa has come to town, it has resulted in a 150% increase in fan turnout compared to a normal game.

That makes for quite the environment every time Clark and the Hawkeyes hit the road. And it’s a phenomenon that has been evident throughout her college career. In 2021-22, as Clark was earning first-team All-American honors and becoming the first player ever to lead D1 in scoring and assists per game, her presence helped boost road attendance by 1,479 fans per game (or 37%) on average. In 2022-23, as Clark’s fame grew further and she won multiple NCAA Player of the Year awards, average road attendance in Iowa games swelled by 2,991 fans per contest (or 92%).

Now Clark’s effect on attendance is as strong as it’s ever been, with Iowa’s most recent trio of Big Ten opponents each selling more than 200% more tickets per game than usual. It helps that Iowa is also one of the best teams in the nation: No. 1 ranked South Carolina also gives opponents a boost when it comes to town, for instance, increasing attendance by 2,921 fans (or 134%) per road game so far this season. But there’s something extra about the Caitlin Clark Effect. 

The star point guard is well aware of the hype that follows her. 

"Whenever we go on the road, it's going to be an intense crowd, and that adds a bit to the game," Clark told reporters after Iowa’s 96-71 win over Purdue on Wednesday. "That's a whole other factor we have to deal with... but I think it's something we're going to face in the Big Ten for the rest of the year."

Clark is spot-on about that. Looking ahead, all but one of Iowa’s away games at Big Ten arenas have already sold out. 

Opponents notice the difference too.

“Just the evolution of our game, obviously you credit Caitlin a lot for that, for what she’s brought to our game,” Purdue head coach Katie Gerald told reporters on Wednesday. “But I think you’re seeing us more on TV, the women’s game more on TV, you’re seeing more on social media, like women can hoop. 22 can hoop, but we got some kids who can hoop in the country.”

While fans might initially show up for Clark, her opponents hope they keep coming back to see them. Thanks to Clark’s starpower, more fans are tuning in — both in-person and on TV — to women’s college basketball. 

That gives them a chance to see Clark, obviously. But it also allows them to get a look at some of the other stars in the sport, whether it’s Virginia Tech center Elizabeth Kitley, Kansas State center Ayoka Lee, Indiana forward Mackenzie Holmes and Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon. 

All three players have either (in the case of Kitley and Lee) already faced Clark and the Hawkeyes, or (in the case of Holmes and Sheldon) will take the court against Iowa later this season.

That adds to what is already clear: thanks in part to the Iowa star, the sport is entering a new era. 

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Filed under: College basketball