Caitlin Clark is not in Paris for the Olympics after being left off of the Team USA roster. Her absence is directly tied to early attendance numbers for women’s basketball, which proved that she is the biggest star in the world.
Nobody stayed up to watch the United States play Japan during its opening game of the group phase.
Competition got underway on Sunday with two games in Group A. Groups B and C started on Monday. Team USA is in the latter. Every single one of the games during the group phase are being played at the same arena— Pierre Mauroy Stadium just outside of Lille.
Here is how attendance broke down by game, date and (Parisian) time:
- Spain vs. China
- Sunday, July 28, 13:30
- ATTENDANCE: 27,021
- Serbia vs. Puerto Rico
- Sunday, July 28, 21:00
- ATTENDANCE: 15,324
- Nigeria vs. Australia
- Monday, July 29, 11:00
- ATTENDANCE: 24,023
- Germany vs. Belgium
- Monday, July 29, 13:30
- ATTENDANCE: 20,211
- Canada vs. France
- Monday, July 29, 17:15
- ATTENDANCE: 20,211
- United States vs. Japan
- Monday, July 29, 21:00
- ATTENDANCE: 13,040
The U.S. drew the smallest crowd of all six opening round games. Coincidence? Definitely not.
Of course, Team USA does not care about how many people showed up to watch their games. They are there to win gold. Attendance doesn’t actually matter. Especially when they are 20+ point favorites in an early-round game that began after 9:00 p.m. local time.
However, it just goes to show that the Caitlin Clark effect is very real.
Pierre Mauroy Stadium is a soccer venue first and can hold more than 50,000 fans. If the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft was on the roster, even just on the bench, the crowd likely would have exceeded that of the first women’s basketball game of the Olympics between the Chinese and Spaniards. Clark;s global impact left her speechless during the NCAA Tournament and international fans are equally as bummed that she isn’t in Paris, as seen by attendance numbers.