Caitlin Clark is the biggest star in the history of the WNBA as a rookie. However, her impact on the state of Iowa is even greater than her impact on the league.
She managed to make the NFL irrelevant in a country where the NFL is king!
Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson reunited for Saturday’s college football game between in-state rivals as the premier broadcasting duo on CBS. The Cyclones got one back on the Hawkeyes with a one-point win to claim victory in the Cy-Hawk Series at Kinnick Stadium.
Nessler and his boothmate swung by a local bar on game day eve in Iowa City. It was Friday night and the Packers were playing the Eagles down in Brazil. NFL games typically get priority at sports bars. Most, if not all, televisions inside most, if not all, eating and drinking establishments in the United States are on a professional football game if a professional football game is being played.
Not in this particular instance!
Nessler gave a shoutout to Caitlin Clark on the CBS broadcast. He said that there were three large screens at the bar and all of them were on the Indiana Fever’s game against the Minnesota Lynx. Only two small TVs were tuned to the Peacock broadcast of Packers/Eagles.
And even though Clark did not win the game, every single person stuck around to watch all four quarters. A large number of them packed their things and went home after the WNBA game. They didn’t even stick around to watch the end of the NFL game. They were there to watch the greatest scorer in college basketball history over football.
This kind of popularity is obviously specific to Iowa and the point guard’s biggest fanbase. NFL games will always take priority over everything else, anywhere else.
But still! Caitlin Clark is a superstar on a level we have never seen from women’s basketball.