Will the CC Effect sustain?
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HawkeyezBull
Well-Known Member
Yeah most likely as this satire piece is probably closer to reality
babylonbee.com
She should stay in college as built-in allegiances and fan bases in college basketball is why you can monetize players. There is no passionate fans for the WNBA or at least very few. Most residents don't even know their team's nickname. If anyone can change their fortune it is Catlin Clark, but I think it'll be an uptick for a year or two and then a fade to where the current WNBA is, ESPN will be pushing it hard since these are cheap broadcasting rights and something they can make money on.
Caitlin Clark To Retire From Spotlight And Enter WNBA
CLEVELAND, OH — Following a heartbreaking loss that capped what had been a storybook run in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, Iowa standout Caitlin Clark announced her plan to retire from the spotlight and fade into obscurity with the WNBA.
babylonbee.com
She should stay in college as built-in allegiances and fan bases in college basketball is why you can monetize players. There is no passionate fans for the WNBA or at least very few. Most residents don't even know their team's nickname. If anyone can change their fortune it is Catlin Clark, but I think it'll be an uptick for a year or two and then a fade to where the current WNBA is, ESPN will be pushing it hard since these are cheap broadcasting rights and something they can make money on.
When they talk about record viewership, it seems like most records are from quite awhile ago. It seems like great players like Miller or Swoops make an uptick in viewership for awhile and then it dies back down. I wouldn't be surprised if woman's college basketball instantly loses half of their new fans. Probably another half of what's left will be gone in a few years. Hopefully JuJu pushes Clark's scoring record to keep excitement going. Then falls short in the end of course.
Fryowa
Administrator
What she should do is go get the easy $5M from Ice Cube and have some fun playing basketball and growing a brand.Yeah most likely as this satire piece is probably closer to reality
Caitlin Clark To Retire From Spotlight And Enter WNBA
CLEVELAND, OH — Following a heartbreaking loss that capped what had been a storybook run in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, Iowa standout Caitlin Clark announced her plan to retire from the spotlight and fade into obscurity with the WNBA.
She should stay in college as built-in allegiances and fan bases in college basketball is why you can monetize players. There is no passionate fans for the WNBA or at least very few. Most residents don't even know their team's nickname. If anyone can change their fortune it is Catlin Clark, but I think it'll be an uptick for a year or two and then a fade to where the current WNBA is, ESPN will be pushing it hard since these are cheap broadcasting rights and something they can make money on.
Or go make a fraction of it to get pushed around by 6'4" 200 lb players in empty arenas with no TV coverage. Because eventually the novelty will wear off and unfortunately that $5M isn't going to be around at that point. The college game doesn't really translate to the pros the way people think it does.
Zstatman
Well-Known Member
Sometimes I wonder how this CC mania all happened?
Did anyone else note that the two-time defending WNBA champ Las Vegas Aces announced yesterday that they have moved their home game against the Fever to a garger venue to accomodate more fans, sell more tickets, make more money?
And, who could have missed the Phoenix Mercury plugging their June 30 home game against the Fever being the GOAT (Taurasi) vs The Rook! Tickets are now on sale.
Is it possible Hawkeye Nation will be flooding to Fever games, home and away, keeping the mania going? Will she develop new fans?
If she's got a WNBA game, who knows the limits of what's possible. And, I'd consider that Ice Cube $5M, too.
Did anyone else note that the two-time defending WNBA champ Las Vegas Aces announced yesterday that they have moved their home game against the Fever to a garger venue to accomodate more fans, sell more tickets, make more money?
And, who could have missed the Phoenix Mercury plugging their June 30 home game against the Fever being the GOAT (Taurasi) vs The Rook! Tickets are now on sale.
Is it possible Hawkeye Nation will be flooding to Fever games, home and away, keeping the mania going? Will she develop new fans?
If she's got a WNBA game, who knows the limits of what's possible. And, I'd consider that Ice Cube $5M, too.
Some of those players being old enough to be Clark's grandmother.
Not that I have anything against age. I mean, I'm old. My wife and I spent 20 minutes the other day talking about the various banks and grocery stores we used to go to when we lived in different areas. So, yah I'm old. I don't feel it. But when you're reminiscing about Dahl's....yah. You're old. Your fastball is still sitting in the dugout.
My understanding is that ESPN's deal with the WNBA expired at the end of the last season. ION has the rights. And the current plan is streaming only? I mean, Scripps owns ION and is like the second largest operator of ABC affiliates. So, I'm guessing a few deals could be struck pretty easily. WNBA can't do like MLS. MLS isn't going to get the 55+ crowd. They've done the math and trying to get a small portion of it ain't worth it. Streaming works for them. If the WNBA is truly going to be mostly streamed? You could almost stick a fork in them.
One thing we gotta recognize. The mania didn't happen overnight. It built over 4 years. And it had ups and downs. Up during last year's run....then tailing off. Then charging back up again in the latter part of the season with the race to record. Then going all out manic and snowballing exponentially through the last few games of the season through to last Sunday.
That's the starting point. The 'fever pitch' can stay the same. It can go higher. Or it can fade.
If I were a betting man, I know what I would pick.
The only thing that arguably ratchets the fever up, or even maintains it....is if she goes out and scores 30/game with some logobombs and some jaw-dropping dimes to Boston.
Otherwise, it will fade. The question isn't when it fades. It's how much it fades.
Then again, if 20% of the state of Iowa signs up to stream WNBA games, that's a huge boost to their ratings.
Imagine if Clark scored the exact same amount of points but never shot logo 3s. And she had the exact same amount of assists but none were the high risk high reward passes she does. Just normal, flow of the offense assists. No one would give a crap about her. So I agree, the logo 3s need to stay and the high turnovers due to the high risk high reward passes have to stay.
On a side note, has anyone seen the graph of all of college basketball players points and assists where Clark is the green dot in the top right corner? It's insane.
justwinbaby
Well-Known Member
Yes that graph is impressive. I agree that the logo threes and jaw dropping assists will have to be there to make viewership increase. If the WNBA wants to elevate its viewership it should keep pushing a made up rivalry between CC and Taurasi. I don’t think they will rig games or players will get on board with it but they should push for CC to start off with huge numbers in her first games. In other words they should be producing a good storyline to get eyeballs.
vegashawki
Well-Known Member
And the lower deck prices at T-Mobile area are in the hundreds when they come to town to play the Aces. I think the first year she will draw crowds, but not sure about long term sustainability. I also agree with everyone that thinks she should take $500k a game from Ice cube. That is life changing money, I’m sure on top of the $5 million she’d get profits from jersey sales and what not if they negotiate the deal right.
Fun fact. I didn't think Taurasi was actually still playing. I was vaguely aware of who she was...from like 20 years ago when she was a great player in college. I assumed that, you know, since she was always on TV that she was like Peyton Manning. Long retired and moving in to some form of broadcasting.
Who knew.
Yah, I mean James is what approaching 40? I assume he's still going strong. I know he's still relevant. But I'm gonna assume that maybe his best years are a bit behind him.
dahlhawk
Well-Known Member
She's played 6 months, has WNBA training camp in two weeks, you think she should play in the Olympics? I say she needs to sleep for like a week, I'd already be dead if I were her.
RobHowe
Administrator
The Caitlin Clark Effect Hits WNBA Ticket Prices
Caitlin Clark hasn’t been drafted to the WNBA, but teams and resellers are already jacking up ticket prices as they prepare for her arrival.
frontofficesports.com
I'm kind of ambivalent about the Olympics for Clark.
The WNBA should absolutely BEG for it. It's good for them. Even if she hardly sniffs the court or doesn't make much of a splash. Just let NBC's team do with it as they will. NBC Olympic production is usually awfully good. They'll be able to sidestep all the drama/hate and unrelated issues that come up. It's the Olympics. They're pretty good at staying away from nonsensical drama.
The caveat is the shadow cast by Christian Laettner. If people are tuning in expecting Clark to do Clark things, and she doesn't or can't, that fuels any fires out there. Then again, I think all she has to do is hit like one good bomb and it'll get replayed repeatedly. And there'll be plenty of footage of her getting a gold medal.
If the WNBA was REALLY smart, they just sit the olds and go all in with Boston and other recent grads and reunite Clark with with Van Lith and Bueckers in international basketball. Drop in Reese. Add that Jaylyn Sherrod from Colorado, because I think she was one of the best players we saw this year, and her academic career is excellent media fodder and compelling. Maybe even think about Watkins from the angle of "there's more to come/this is just the beginning". Sort of set it up as the Taurasi's "bunch of 18 year olds vs. the world". Frame it a little as the Miracle on Ice rather then Dream Team, in case they don't win. Yah, I know....you have to put together a TEAM (a la the Miracle team). But, I would think a good coach could find a way to do that with the pool available. I dunno how NCAA rules work, but does the NCAA have any rules anymore that can't be broken?
I would actually prefer they do this with men's Olympic basketball, hockey, and any other sport with high value athletic leagues. Cause....it's the Olympics. I don't care if we don't have NBA players winning the gold. In fact, they're perfectly capable of getting beat as we've seen.
Literally 95% of the people who say they care about the current players in the WNBA did not care about them 1-2 years ago. Or don't care enough to actually go to or even watch games on TV. Or follow teams. I'm not dogging on the existing players (well, I am a little) or negating their abilities. It's just a fact, there's a lot of people who SAY they cared and watched the WNBA, that didn't actually care beyond lip service. There is a lot of people right now, who WANT to care about the WNBA. And I'm not saying they should have the last word on how it should go or what it should do. But, you might want to consider them.
The reality is, the WNBA has a chance here. It's not even a given if they seize that chance that it will last. But the only way to find out, is to grab it.
M1911A1Hawkeye
Well-Known Member
The Fever went from 1 game on TV last season to 36 for this season.
I almost wish Clark woulda took the BIG 3 money. Do the Olympics cash in on all the endorsement $ she can get. Go overseas and play for a couple yrs but skip out on the WNBA all together. She's gonna make north of 20-50 milly in no time. She's gotta be close to 10 large now I would think. The drama pressure and low pay that the WNBA is all about doesn't seem worth it to me. She can rake in major $ and retire before she's 30 and be happy as a can be.
She's obviously not going to do this cause she wants to play. She wants to see how she stacks up against the best players here and see how good she can be. She'll turn down the BIG 3 $ cause that's just a gimmick. Now that the offer got out everyone will know she only did it for the $ and that wouldn't look good either. That's not how she rolls.
Imagine being able to turn down 5 million at her age and not even sweat it.... To go play in a league that's only gonna give 70k something. She's the only one that can pull that off. She's one of one for lots of reasons.
As far as if she'll be able to sustain all this into the WNBA heck if I know. They'll be the initial new car smell of it all for this yr. But largely how well she plays and how well her team looks will have a lot to do with that as time goes on. I think how she'll be coached will be interesting. Like who the heck even is Indianas coach? If they try to reign her in somehow that sure won't fly so I'll be tuning in to keep up with her. But I'm a die hard invested CC fan. The rest of America I guess we'll just have to wait and see
She's obviously not going to do this cause she wants to play. She wants to see how she stacks up against the best players here and see how good she can be. She'll turn down the BIG 3 $ cause that's just a gimmick. Now that the offer got out everyone will know she only did it for the $ and that wouldn't look good either. That's not how she rolls.
Imagine being able to turn down 5 million at her age and not even sweat it.... To go play in a league that's only gonna give 70k something. She's the only one that can pull that off. She's one of one for lots of reasons.
As far as if she'll be able to sustain all this into the WNBA heck if I know. They'll be the initial new car smell of it all for this yr. But largely how well she plays and how well her team looks will have a lot to do with that as time goes on. I think how she'll be coached will be interesting. Like who the heck even is Indianas coach? If they try to reign her in somehow that sure won't fly so I'll be tuning in to keep up with her. But I'm a die hard invested CC fan. The rest of America I guess we'll just have to wait and see
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Zstatman
Well-Known Member
It appears to me that the WNBA isn't really ready to welcome a newcomer with the impact that CC is bringing to the league.
I can see why changing a Collective Bargaining Agreement would be a hard thing to do to accommodate someone coming in that should be able to make a lot more than the CBA allows.
It also appears the Olympic roster is already set and there is no chance for CC to make the roster. Does the world want CC on that roster? I'd think so. I would guess most of those on the roster, if not all of them, feel she should wait her turn, wait 4 years. I'd guess Diana Taurasi would be in that camp.
We are already seeing the WNBA teams planning on taking advantage of her arrival and make more money in increased ticket sales, probably higher prices, and increased TV ratings.
Should Caitlin be the good little trooper and just go with the flow, fit in how the league wants her to fit in, don't rock the boat? Being the nice, good Iowa girl, she just might do that, just like she did as a Hawkeye.
It appears a lot of the league doesn't feel CC is going to go into the league and take it by storm. But wouldn't it be great if she were given the chance? A lot of us feel she might just do it.
What if she goes ahead and gets drafted then opts for that BIG 3 contract? Doesn't seem like something she would do but I wouldn't blame her. The WNBA might hate her if she did and who knows how that could play out.
Stay tuned, eh!
I can see why changing a Collective Bargaining Agreement would be a hard thing to do to accommodate someone coming in that should be able to make a lot more than the CBA allows.
It also appears the Olympic roster is already set and there is no chance for CC to make the roster. Does the world want CC on that roster? I'd think so. I would guess most of those on the roster, if not all of them, feel she should wait her turn, wait 4 years. I'd guess Diana Taurasi would be in that camp.
We are already seeing the WNBA teams planning on taking advantage of her arrival and make more money in increased ticket sales, probably higher prices, and increased TV ratings.
Should Caitlin be the good little trooper and just go with the flow, fit in how the league wants her to fit in, don't rock the boat? Being the nice, good Iowa girl, she just might do that, just like she did as a Hawkeye.
It appears a lot of the league doesn't feel CC is going to go into the league and take it by storm. But wouldn't it be great if she were given the chance? A lot of us feel she might just do it.
What if she goes ahead and gets drafted then opts for that BIG 3 contract? Doesn't seem like something she would do but I wouldn't blame her. The WNBA might hate her if she did and who knows how that could play out.
Stay tuned, eh!
Zstatman
Well-Known Member
BTW, here is the official Olympic team roster:
The years they've been on the team are listed.
Ariel Atkins (2020)
Aliyah Boston
Napheesa Collier (2020)
Kahleah Copper
Allisha Gray (2020, 3x3)
Chelsea Gray (2020)
Brittney Griner (2016, 2020)
Rhyne Howard
Sabrina Ionescu
Betnijah Laney
Jewell Loyd (2020)
Arike Ogunbowale
Kelsey Plum (2020, 3x3)
Breanna Stewart (2016, 2020)
Diana Taurasi (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Alyssa Thomas
A’ja Wilson (2020)
Jackie Young (2020, 3x3)
The years they've been on the team are listed.
Ariel Atkins (2020)
Aliyah Boston
Napheesa Collier (2020)
Kahleah Copper
Allisha Gray (2020, 3x3)
Chelsea Gray (2020)
Brittney Griner (2016, 2020)
Rhyne Howard
Sabrina Ionescu
Betnijah Laney
Jewell Loyd (2020)
Arike Ogunbowale
Kelsey Plum (2020, 3x3)
Breanna Stewart (2016, 2020)
Diana Taurasi (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Alyssa Thomas
A’ja Wilson (2020)
Jackie Young (2020, 3x3)
