Well, it's finally over

[CaliCyfan]

I probably would have been a Clark fan and rooted for Iowa more this season but the local media just ruined it for me. She was fun to watch, I'll give her that. Now it's Audi time.

This. The national media ruined it. I walked into the first round tourney game against Maryland with an older couple, Stanford season ticket holders. They saw my ISU shirt and asked what I thought of CC being that I was an Iowa native. They were not CC fans, agreed that over exposure made it hard to root for her. That there were lots of great players to share the spotlight.

They asked who to watch for on the Cyclones knowing nothing about our team. I told them Audi won't disappoint. That was her 40 pt. game, they got a show.

 

[flycy]

I better shut up now before I get banned for simply refusing to fall in line and trash everything about Iowa including............wait for it..........women's basketball of all things.

That's what I said though. None of this is jealousy. It's just facts that Clark is not the sole reason for WBB's growth.

2022 - Final Four averaged 3.5M viewers, which was a record at the time

2024 - Iowa vs. UConn averaged 14M, South Carolina vs. NC State averaged 7M

I'm not disputing that Clark has played a huge role in all of this. But it's fantasy to think this is all her doing. (Unfortunately some central and eastern Iowa media seem to feed that fantasy.)

Listen, I didn't like Clark's behavior and wasn't impressed with her overall play, but getting twice the views as the undefeated #1 overall ranked team disproves your point. Clark definitely made a huge difference in ratings.

 

[flycy]

All I know is that I'm not ever switching to State Farm and I'll boycott HyVee a while. That's my Caitlin effect.

 

[VeloClone]

The state does suck pretty hard, but I don't really care about women's basketball so I tend to just gravitate towards the underdog. I certainly don't want Iowa to win a natty in football or men's basketball ever, but I personally don't care if they're good at baseball for instance.

The weird thing to me is people complain so much about things that they have a free choice to just not pay attention to. I live in Ames and almost never hear or read anything about Caitlin Clark.

Good advice but I find the last sentence incredibly hard to believe. I live in the Twin Cities and have heard about it for a month now from Minnesota sources.

 

[VeloClone]

I think you will start to hear stories leak out about what her own teammates really thought about her and what a diva she is now that it's over.

I kind of doubt that there will be much. CC is the third rail of Iowa sports. Any athlete who dares say anything bad about her will be quickly cancelled by all of hawkdom and they know that.

 

[ClubCy]

Good advice but I find the last sentence incredibly hard to believe. I live in the Twin Cities and have heard about it for a month now from Minnesota sources.

I mean, these days all of social media is algorithm based so it’s pretty easy to weed out what you want to see vs. what you don’t want to see. There aren’t 6 channels on tv anymore so if she is popping up on the local news then turn it off or don’t turn it on. Very easy to get news without it being the 5:00. It’s hard to get away from it I guess if your friends/family/colleagues keep bringing it up.

I always think of the Don Draper quote “if you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation”

 

[VeloClone]

Well the frontal lobe is not developed until 25. There has to be a place for the kids to go that didn't pick the good guys. As Johnny Orr said.

\/ sig \/

 

[Remo Gaggi]

Right now I would guess Juju is the one they will promote. I remember some barbershop commercial with her, but not sure who it was for. They had went all in on a group of seniors and when they declared for the draft, it was like they didn't realize that they had a void now. You generally want a couple players in case one gets hurt or they leave at the same time. I say the media pushes Juju.

Also, I was shown a tweet from the Woodward lady whose scoring record CC broke. Now with the tourney over, she is going to see a crap storm thrown at her.

 

[cyIclSoneU]

I’ve explained why I don’t like her, but trying to pretend she isn’t pretty much the entire reason for the ratings is denial.

We will see a dip next year but hopefully it set a much higher floor on interest and viewership.

This is the heads I win, tails you lose of the Clark-viewership discussion. If ratings drop from 2022, it's because Clark is gone. If ratings are up from 2022, it's because Clark set a higher floor. Either way, it's Clark all the way down!

Not a productive way to have a conversation IMO.

I am on record that Clark is the single biggest driver of WBB viewership growth - more than any other person on the planet, who has ever lived - and yet I still think many people still manage to overstate her impact on WBB ratings. She could be abducted by basketball-loving aliens tomorrow and the sport would continue to grow, because WBB is in a growth pattern.

 

[WartburgClone]

Based on some of CC's on the court antics, I'm gonna guess she had a hissy fit when she didn't get a pony for her birthday when she was growing up.

She just barely missed this TV show by one year.

My Super Sweet 16 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[CyDude16]

Clark wouldn't even be a starter for the Gamecocks.

One of the worst takes I’ve seen on this board.

 

[acoustimac]

So you agree with me.

No one agrees with you

 

[loyalsons4evertrue]

This is the heads I win, tails you lose of the Clark-viewership discussion. If ratings drop from 2022, it's because Clark is gone. If ratings are up from 2022, it's because Clark set a higher floor. Either way, it's Clark all the way down!

Not a productive way to have a conversation IMO.

I am on record that Clark is the single biggest driver of WBB viewership growth - more than any other person on the planet, who has ever lived - and yet I still think many people still manage to overstate her impact on WBB ratings. She could be abducted by basketball-loving aliens tomorrow and the sport would continue to grow, because WBB is in a growth pattern.

WBB has also gotten really smart on showcasing the biggest names/programs on days where they aren't competing with men's games of that caliber. Thursday's and Sunday's in college basketball are pretty much THE showcase for women's basketball

 

[brett108]

Clark wouldn't even be a starter for the Gamecocks.

Easy there. Clark absolutely would. Unfortunately Im not sure the rest of the Iowa roster could sniff a walk on offer for alot of these teams. Iowa really was a one woman squad.

 

[cytor]

Easy there. Clark absolutely would. Unfortunately Im not sure the rest of the Iowa roster could sniff a walk on offer for alot of these teams. Iowa really was a one woman squad.

Agree. CC would start at SC. Staley would likely not let her play the style that Bluder let her get away with.

 

[iahawks]

Agree. CC would start at SC. Staley would likely not let her play the style that Bluder let her get away with.

Agree on both points. Bluder let Clark do her thing out of necessity. If Clark went to a stacked roster, they wouldn’t need her to do those things. Clark will more than likely be a different player in the WNBA and I’m guessing she will be more of a passer.

 

[Marcelason78]

….l.Clark will more than likely be a different player in the WNBA and I’m guessing she will be more of a passer.

Likely? More like guaranteed. No more drives to the basket and a lot less uncontested 3s.

 

[somecyguy]

Props to whoever you are. The fact that 99% of iowa fans don't get the point you're making is just hilarious.

 

[DSMCy]

Oooo they are so close!

 

[BCClone]

Oooo they are so close!

Someone tell them that since they always mentioned he went undefeated at ISU that it is good for the state.