Fans might feel relieved after the WNBA recently delivered a long-awaited counterproposal to players. The players will go through the terms and match them with their demands before making a decision on the CBA deal. While Cailtin Clark was one of many players eager to get back on the WNBA court, they must wait for a nod from the WNBPA.
The key reason for the delay was commercials in the deal with the players, seeing huge revenue numbers in the recent deals. For such a stage of the league, New York Liberty owner Joe Tsai credited the Fever guard.
New York Liberty Owner Praises Caitlin Clark Impact
Just as when the CBA talks heat up, there were huge discussions about the ceiling of the possible demands and projections. Looking at the unprecedented growth, everyone failed to put a finger on specific numbers. On All In Podcast, though, Liberty owner sees the 2024 rookie as the reason behind the rise in commercial numbers.
“Caitlin Clark definitely had an effect on the WNBA. All the metrics went up, so this was last season, right when she first came into the league from college, and we’ve seen all of our metrics from viewership, ticket sales, (and) sponsorship. Everything went up like almost 4x. So the economic impact that she’s made to the league is extraordinary,” he said on the All In Podcast.
🎥Joe Tsai, owner of the New York Liberty, speaks on Caitlin Clark’s impact & how it benefited the whole WNBA. Her star power brought viewership & revenue by 4X 😲! pic.twitter.com/spvplscXwG
— JMac | Ball Up | 🏀🏈 (@Gameis_gameLFG) February 6, 2026
The episode was from October, when the league and players were fighting to meet the original CBA deadline. Now, after two extensions, they are yet to finalize the numbers, proving Tsai’s point right.
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While the franchise owner was in awe of CC’s impact and gave her due credit, a WNBA insider hints that her impact also became a problem for the league.
Caitlin Clark’s Popularity Became Huge Problem For WNBA?
The league gradually improved its viewership and retained a steady fanbase that supported it for nearly 28 years. But the 2024 season changed all. While Joe Tsai mentioned the positive side of Clark’s impact, the league faced a few negative impacts also.
As per Annie Constabile, the league was not ready to handle such a surge and failed to cope with the same. The current CBA demands are also based on the last two seasons’ mega jump on every commercial matrix. “I think when it comes to the arrival of Caitlin Clark, there was a lot of business there, but there weren’t enough business minds ready for that, or that prepared the league to be ready for that,” Costabile said.
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke about the Clark effect early in the season, and now it has been a huge ask for the league to handle. While it’s not on the Fever guard that she can pull off such a magnitude of fanbase, the league must be ready for more with the next line of superstars entering the league.