Caitlin Changed the Game | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Caitlin Changed the Game

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Kaizen said:
Dawn: IF we ask who has brought the most attention to Women's College Basketball in the last 25 years, I think it's fair to say it's Caitlin.

Dwan must forget Moore won the AP Player of the Year (first sophomore to win the award), Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Year and the John R. Wooden Award and the Wade Trophy in 2008. She was a unanimous first-team All-American for a second straight season, earning first-team recognition from the AP and USBWA and making the WBCA Coaches' All-America Team. In July 2009, she won the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award.[17]
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Timing is everything. Unfortunately, the timing of Maya's performance in college was before the media buzz and publicity that has captivated an entire audience of thousands of non-basketball fans at least for several games.

Now the WNBA's and their network affiliate, ESPN's, mission in the upcoming season starting next month is to make certain that it was not a "flash in the pan" in order to take advantage of and ride the wave of popularity. We all hope they succeed - across the entire league and all of the teams - since the women's game is worth all of the attention but hopefully not just about one player.

But back on Maya, after her amazing college career, Maya won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2011); four WNBA championships, (2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017); a WNBA Finals MVP Award (2013); three WNBA All Star Game MVP's (2015, 2017 and 2018); two olympic gold medals (2012 and 2016); and a WNBA Scoring Title (2014).

Maya is a true GOAT but 95% (try 99%) of the people who watched a FF or the NC game this year could even tell you who she or many of the other trail blazers in womens college basketball were or are and their accomplishments. Compare that to the men's game where everyone even those who never watched basketball could tell you who Wilt, Russell, MJ, LeBron, Kareem, Shack, Magic, Bird and more were and are.

And that women's basketball fans is what is really unfortunate. That to me is what the WNBA and ESPN hasn't promoted as strongly and needs to get out there now while they have the attention of those who never paid the women's game much heed.

Good luck. Let's hope they succeed.
 
Zach Jump said:
Let's see....in the 80s we had 3 channels so people watched because what else are you going to watch.

Today...the ratings are higher...with 34,876 cable channels, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and many more that for some stupid reason I have subscriptions to.

Yes the YouTube factor matters as so many of us a few years ago were showing videos to people that said I do not care about womens basketball....the same people the last couple days were telling me how awesome it was to watch Kate get drafted. (I live 1,500 miles from Iowa)

Why the attention...quit looking for a reason to explain it away and simply embrace it.

Yes I am an Iowa fan....I member as a kid just how special Michelle Edwards was.

...and just for the record...Caitlin at best is the 3rd most influential Hawkeye in all of Women's Basketball history at this point.
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3rd most influential Hawkeye?

Maybe as far as influencing the Hawkeye program but not as far as influencing "all of Women's Basketball." She is number one.

The 18.9 million viewrs are simply the highest ever. I doubled the Hawkeye viewers from the previous year - which doubled the viewers from the championship game the year before (SCar v Uconn). Oh and those are Nielson ratings which do not count all the "34,876" cable channels, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu."

Clark IS the most influential women's basketball player ever (I'm not saying GOAT). I am not a big fan of here's. (That hand sign taunting Raven last year really ticked me off - both as a sports fan and a gamecock.) Nevertheless, I have to acknowledge what she has brought to the Game. I would like to think we had a hand in that 18.79 viewers, but it was small. Caitlin was the eyeball magnet.

Here's the historical TV ratings for championship games:
www.nielsen.com

Women’s College Basketball Championship Game Draws Record-Breaking 18.9 Million Viewers | Nielsen

18.9 million viewers watched the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship on ABC and ESPN
www.nielsen.com www.nielsen.com
 
visitingcock said:
3rd most influential Hawkeye?

Maybe as far as influencing the Hawkeye program but not as far as influencing "all of Women's Basketball." She is number one.

The 18.9 million viewrs are simply the highest ever. I doubled the Hawkeye viewers from the previous year - which doubled the viewers from the championship game the year before (SCar v Uconn). Oh and those are Nielson ratings which do not count all the "34,876" cable channels, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu."

Clark IS the most influential women's basketball player ever (I'm not saying GOAT). I am not a big fan of here's. (That hand sign taunting Raven last year really ticked me off - both as a sports fan and a gamecock.) Nevertheless, I have to acknowledge what she has brought to the Game. I would like to think we had a hand in that 18.79 viewers, but it was small. Caitlin was the eyeball magnet.

Here's the historical TV ratings for championship games:
www.nielsen.com

Women’s College Basketball Championship Game Draws Record-Breaking 18.9 Million Viewers | Nielsen

18.9 million viewers watched the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship on ABC and ESPN
www.nielsen.com www.nielsen.com
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1995 April 2, UConn vs. Tenn game has 7.44 million views.
 
visitingcock said:
The 18.9 million viewrs are simply the highest ever. I doubled the Hawkeye viewers from the previous year - which doubled the viewers from the championship game the year before (SCar v Uconn). Oh and those are Nielson ratings which do not count all the "34,876" cable channels, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu."
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Yes, Nielsen ratings include streaming. Nielsen is a media measurement company that has expanded its capabilities to include streaming viewership. Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings uses people-powered panels and proprietary metering technology to attribute program viewership through linear TV and connected devices. Nielsen Streaming Platform Ratings uses people-powered panels and proprietary metering technology to measure what content is streamed, the device used to stream, and the streaming source application

 
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visitingcock said:
Maybe as far as influencing the Hawkeye program but not as far as influencing "all of Women's Basketball." She is number one.
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Would the game have reached the point where Caitlin could have the impact she is having without Dr Christine Grant or Vivian Stringer?
 
Bjbod said:
Yes.
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You think that Caitlin in 4 years has had a bigger impact than Dr Grant did in 50 years of kicking down doors?

The GM of the Fever referred to Dr Grant as the Mother of Title 9 in her last press conference.

NCAA literally named their biggest ballroom after her.

19-00164-HoC-and-Conference-Center_Layout-Revised-scaled.jpg



Hell...every single womens basketball head coach at the University of Iowa, in History, was hired by Christine Grant.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
So...all that nonsense about players losing out on NIL when they go from college to pro was just that.
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She's 1 very specific and, to this point, unique player with 1 specific deal.

I don't think any of us can speak to everyone's details, but it's not hard to imagine that some of the women taken in the 2nd and 3rd rounds won't get impressive Nike deals and might have been financially better off with "star" NIL $$$ from 1 more year in the NCAA vs. the $64k they'll get from the WNBA.
 
typhaon said:
She's 1 very specific and, to this point, unique player with 1 specific deal.

I don't think any of us can speak to everyone's details, but it's not hard to imagine that some of the women taken in the 2nd and 3rd rounds won't get impressive Nike deals and might have been financially better off with "star" NIL $$$ from 1 more year in the NCAA vs. the $64k they'll get from the WNBA.
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I'd like to see some real numbers. How many players that don't project to be stars in the WNBA are really making more than $64 K in NIL money?
 
This thread is very interesting. A lot of salty UConn posters. I'll start by saying this, I agree that Caitlin Clark is changing the game.

She is changing the popularity of WBB. All those record shattering viewing numbers, a huge majority of those can be attributed to her. Many of the most viewed games this year had Iowa in them. We all are in our own bubbles when it comes to WBB, so we've known about her. But she exploded onto the national scene 2023 post season and became a star that attracted casual fans. I really hope the WNBA can take advantage of this and I hope NCAAW doesn't lose too much steam. I think there's a lot of great talent.

She's changing the game because she is attaining things beyond basketball. She didn't get a championship, but she's getting a $20M Nike shoe deal. She was on a talk show. She's a great representative of our sport, and she's pretty stinking good too. There are players before her that were better collegiate players, had championships and more accolades. But she has that star power in the media that you can't really cultivate on purpose. It just kind of happens, I can't explain what it is.
 
Reypl21 said:
This thread is very interesting. A lot of salty UConn posters. I'll start by saying this, I agree that Caitlin Clark is changing the game.

She is changing the popularity of WBB. All those record shattering viewing numbers, a huge majority of those can be attributed to her. Many of the most viewed games this year had Iowa in them. We all are in our own bubbles when it comes to WBB, so we've known about her. But she exploded onto the national scene 2023 post season and became a star that attracted casual fans. I really hope the WNBA can take advantage of this and I hope NCAAW doesn't lose too much steam. I think there's a lot of great talent.

She's changing the game because she is attaining things beyond basketball. She didn't get a championship, but she's getting a $20M Nike shoe deal. She was on a talk show. She's a great representative of our sport, and she's pretty stinking good too. There are players before her that were better collegiate players, had championships and more accolades. But she has that star power in the media that you can't really cultivate on purpose. It just kind of happens, I can't explain what it is.
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Sabrina currently at as 24 million dollar shoe deal, so that’s not new and should have been expected.

I personally don’t think Caitlin Clark changed the game, in that all ships will rise. I think the game changed for her but it’s still the same for everyone else. Viewership will sink in WCBB and eyeballs on the WNBA will likely stay isolated to Fever games.
 
I think NCAAW needs to be careful. Part of what made for such compelling viewing, this year, was that we had continuity from one season to the next with the great stories. If Clark had transferred to Texas and Reese to Miami, would we have seen such ratings? I'm not saying it wouldn't have drawn eyes, but I don't think it would've been the same.

Can Bueckers, Watkins, etc. keep it rolling? We'll see!
 
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Bone Dog said:
I've been wary of the hyperbole surrounding Caitlin, and especially the one where she's somehow changed the game, or done more for it than any players in recent memory. However... I think if we narrow the focus of this claim a bit, I'd have to agree with it.

IF we ask who has brought the most attention to Women's College Basketball in the last 25 years, I think it's fair to say it's Caitlin. A lot of it is timing -- lots of previous players have the skills and talent she has -- but the fact is her timing was impeccable. She came on the scene just as the audience for college basketball was ready for a change, and she gave it to them.

She's not the GOAT -- sorry that's Stewie -- nor is she the one who gave the WNBA instant credibility -- that's Rebecca Lobo -- but she is the one who got WCBB the following it has long needed and deserved.

Good work, Caitlin!
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Honestly ? In a year from now, we'll see. I don't actually believe anything has changed except the media hype.
 
Kaizen said:
This is huge compared to Paige's nil only has $652K.

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Paige will get hers.

Her biggest problem is being able to actually see her play. Iowa had 3 games on BigTen + this year plus 3 Flo games. UConn had 17 games on SNY plus 2 on Flo.

So 6 Games for Iowa that is not National vs 19 for UConn. That will be interesting to see how UConn is able to navigate that in a post Geno world, whenever that happens. Even BigTen + is becoming more of a national extra subscription as the conference expands to West Coast,?Florida?....wouldn't be suprised if the BigTen is in negotiations with Oxford to start American Football and join :)
 
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