Caitlin Clark is the most popular athlete not only in women’s basketball but all of American sports. At least, this is what analyst and critic Jason Whitlock thinks of the topic.
In one of the recent episodes of his program “Fearless,” analyst and critic Jason Whitlock elevated Caitlin Clark to the same heights as that gold legend Tiger Woods. In particular, he cited the drop in the ratings of college basketball after the era of Clark with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“The drop off from the last two years and particularly last year speaks to just what an incredible force,” Whitlock said. “And this is why I keep saying Caitlin Clark is the most popular athlete in all of the American sports. She’s a force of nature. I think these ratings prove it she is. She drives more TV ratings than anybody.”
To top it off, Whitclok linked Clark to golf legend Tiger Woods.
“She’s the Tiger Woods of women’s basketball.”
Caitlin Clark’s time in college basketball brought unprecedented attention and record-breaking ratings to the sport. The 2024 game featuring Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes attracted 18.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s basketball game in history.
However, after Clark transitioned to the WNBA, college basketball experienced a noticeable decline in ratings. The 2025 NCAA championship game between UConn and South Carolina saw a significant drop, averaging 8.5 million viewers, which was a 55% decrease from the previous year’s record.
Similarly, the Final Four games experienced a steep decline, with viewership numbers falling by over 10 million compared to the Clark-led games.
Caitlin Clark’s Popularity Attributed to Her “Likeability”
In the same episode of his program, Jason Whitlock also touched on the topic of Caitlin Clark’s popularity, which has been often downplayed by her critics as only due to her being white.
Whitlcok then raised the comparison to UCOnn Huskies star Paige Bueckers, who se highlighted did not get the same treatment and populariuty as Clark, despite being white as well.
“Yes it plays a role but primarily it’s her likability it’s the fact that people don’t think she’s trying to rub her sexuality in people’s faces,” he added. “They don’t think she’s angry and feels entitled and they love the way she shoots the basketball and the style of play she plays with.”
“It’s just not true,” Whitlock added. “It’s never been true. It was one of the dumbest arguments in the history of sports.”
During the 2024 WNBA season, Caitlin Clark averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and a league-leading 8.4 assists per game.
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Yelle is a broadcast communications graduate from the University of Perpetual Help-Dalta and has pursued a career in television and news writing in Net 25 and Radyo Agila. Some of her works can also be seen through her previous publication in Fastbreak.com.ph.
