Making history in women's basketball

By: Lauren Hennessey

Caitlin Clark is a name that probably rings a bell if you are a sports fan; if you have never heard of her, she is currently a rookie in the WNBA playing for the Indiana Fever.  

In her college career as an Iowa Hawkeye, she became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history men’s or women’s, she clinched the title of all-time assist leader in the Big Ten Conference, and she drained the most three-pointers in a single season in NCAA history her senior year. Clark has brought major attention to the WNBA and has raised viewership alongside other outstanding rookies, such as her opponent Kamilla Cardoso of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Along with her teammates on the Gamecocks, Cardoso has brought in countless new women’s basketball supporters as they went undefeated and won the 2024 NCAA title.  

However, the new rookie class’s presence in the WNBA has brought light to key issues that have been facing the league. Lack of streaming on national sports channels is an issue that fans of the league have been dealing with for years. It has become a requirement for fans to pay for subscriptions and channel packages to watch their favorite teams -- this could be a deciding factor for new interested viewers regarding whether they tune in. It is apparent that only the teams with the projected highest viewership make the streaming cut. 

From a revenue standpoint, this decision has clear motivation, but what about the fan watching whose favorite team is the Mystics, who could only watch their team play one game for free all season? Or LSU Tigers fans who can only watch the extraordinary duo of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso once this season without paying for additional streaming services? Compare this to other sports, where you are almost guaranteed as a fan to be able to watch your local teams for free. Or to the NBA. One-fifth of the total games that are streamed for the WNBA all season are streamed just on Christmas Day for the NBA. 

The popularity of women’s basketball is on a drastic climb, and the NCAA women’s college views outnumbered the NCAA men’s college views for the tournament last season. Not only did the final game of Iowa vs South Carolina beat the men’s final for 2024, it became the highest streamed college basketball game in NCAA history on ESPN. The rise in viewership for women’s college basketball could be a catalyst in creating change at the professional level. If these teams continue to break historic numbers, it could help improve salaries in the WNBA which are significantly lower than those in the NBA. The minimum salary for NBA players is almost four times the amount of the highest WNBA salary. Increased viewership can lead to hope for young female athletes. 

But this change starts with supporting our local teams at any level. It starts with going to Stonehill women’s games. It starts with joining club sports on campus. It starts with spreading your love for the game.