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Caitlin Clark vs Angel Reese is box office.
During the lead-up to the Fever’s third in-season game vs the Sky, Clark tried to downplay the importance of the rivalry despite record-setting ticket sales and viewership.
“I’m pretty sure the only people that view this as a rivalry is all of you (media). For us, it’s just a game of basketball. That’s what it is. If it’s gonna help move the game forward, absolutely…”
Caitlin Clark asked about Sunday being a rivalry game vs Chicago:
"I'm pretty sure the only people that view this as a rivalry is all of you (media). For us, it's just a game of basketball. That's what it is. If it's gonna help move the game forward, absolutely…"
Well said. pic.twitter.com/rwpD0jw8Qm
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) June 22, 2024
While Clark doesn’t view her matchup vs Reese as a rivalry, the rest of the World does and it’s making the WNBA a ton of money.
According to SportsMediaWatch, the latest Sky vs Thunder game was the most-watched game this season, previously breaking the record number set by last week’s Sky-Thunder game.
Via SportsMediaWatch
Sunday’s Fever-Sky WNBA regular season game, the third meeting of the season between Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago’s Angel Reese, averaged 2.30 million viewers on ESPN — surpassing the teams’ meeting on CBS the prior week (2.25M) as the most-watched WNBA game since Memorial Day 2001.
The three most-watched WNBA games since 2001 have come just in the first six weeks this season, two being matchups of Clark and Reese and the third being Clark’s debut against Connecticut on Opening Night.
Chicago’s win was also the most-watched WNBA telecast ever on ESPN.
Clark and Reese are set to face off one final time this season on August 30th in Chicago with the Fever currently up 2-1 in their season series.
It seems like the WNBA is doing big business this year, especially when Clark and Reese face off against each other.