Though the mean girls and race idolaters don’t like it, Caitlin Clark is more valuable to her respective sport than any other American athlete is to theirs.
Case in point: the WNBA’s 2026 television schedule.
On Wednesday, the league announced the Indiana Fever will become the first team in WNBA history to have all 44 regular-season games aired nationally.
Each of the league’s broadcast partners will carry at least one Fever game:
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The WNBA is wise to finally acknowledge Clark’s star power. For most of her first two seasons, the league treated her like just another player, sticking her on the back of posters and leaving her out of promos.
But she is not just another player. The league saw firsthand how quickly its popularity dipped last season when Clark missed time with multiple injuries, ultimately limiting her to just 13 games.
Caitlin Clark is to the WNBA what Tiger Woods was to golf, Michael Jordan to the NBA, and Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey to the UFC. She’s a once-in-a-generation, box office draw.
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What made the league’s hesitation so baffling is that Clark’s rise lifts everyone around her. The more popular she is, the more exposure her teammates and opponents receive.
In fact, Angel Reese is only a household name because of Caitlin Clark. Even Dan Patrick, hardly a culture warrior, argued that point last year.
“[Reese’s] her attention, her notoriety is based off Caitlin Clark because she wins the national title, the first thing she does is mock Caitlin Clark,” Patrick said on his radio show. “And then, she doesn’t even celebrate with her teammates. So, she’s made it personal with Caitlin Clark. Then, she’s played off of that.”
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“WNBA has been around a couple of decades and people didn’t notice the game, they’re noticing it now. Well, that’s because of Caitlin Clark, not Angel Reese,” he concluded.
That said, some women would be wise not to embarrass themselves under the brighter lights that Clark brings.
For example, DiJonai Carrington and Chennedy Carter exposed themselves as bitter, unhinged, racially-obsessed, cheap-shot artists during Clark’s rookie season. They targeted her with hard fouls on the court and smears on social media.
There will be even more attention on the league this year because of the Fever’s national schedule. It will be up to the other women to grow the game beyond just Clark.
We will see if they have the composure and impulses to do so.
