Caitlin Clark’s theory on why NBA ratings have declined

Caitlin Clark appeared on Travis and Jason Kelce’s podcast 'New Heights' early in January 2025 to discuss a wide range of topics. The trio touched on the NBA’s ratings dip, and why people don’t seem as engaged with it this season. Clark’s opinion on the matter as the most famous women’s basketball player has garnered a lot of attention.

Caitlin Clark is known for her remarkable shooting ability, but the plethora of attempts from long range is one reason people have attributed to the ratings decline. Clark isn’t buying into it. “I love three-point shooting,” she told the Kelce brothers. The Indiana Fever superstar went as far as to say that she wouldn’t mind seeing a four-point line added one day.

Being a professional basketball player herself, Clark knows exactly what goes into performing at a high level. She thinks that there’s a narrative that NBA players don’t give it their all night in and night out, but she doesn’t subscribe to it.

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Clark said, “Honestly, I feel like the average basketball fan doesn’t understand how good NBA players are, and they think it looks like they’re not trying. I promise you they’re trying. They’re just, like, so good. That’s why it looks like they’re not trying.”

It’s no secret that the NBA game has changed over the last 10 to 15 years, and Clark thinks that’s part of the natural timeline. She told Newer Heights, “I think it’s also because the skill has just changed. That’s what’s great about basketball—it’s always evolving. It’s going to be different than when MJ played, it’s going to be different in 10 years than it is now.”

As the trio of Clark, Jason and Travis Kelce locked in on this talking point, they also touched on the notion that the ease of player movement might also be hurting the product. Clark said, “Obviously, the physicality of the league has changed a lot. I wasn’t around when it was a lot more physical. Maybe people want more beef and physicality, and people think it’s gone soft.”

Clark is alluding to the NBA of the 1980s through the 2000s, where it was legal and commonplace for defenders to make their presence felt without fouls being called. That era often resulted in games where both teams did not reach 100 points, which was also deemed an issue at that time. ESPN’s research team covered the rough and tumble era in real time in December 2003.

In that piece, ESPN’s team wrote, “how low can scoring go in the NBA? So far, it’s been low enough for teams to set franchise records in offensive futility.” They wrote about games where teams scored 56 points in an entire game, and how combined point totals often didn’t reach 150.

Since Clark was speaking with a current and a former NFL player on Newer Heights, naturally the NFL came up. Clark was able to tie the NFL to the rationale for the NBA ratings decline. She said, “It’s also competing against football right now, so you have to take that into consideration. Football is America’s favorite thing.”

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It’s intriguing to hear Caitlin Clark talk about the state of NBA ratings, considering that she’s been the reason for an unprecedented ratings explosion in the WNBA. Yahoo Sports’ Jack Baer noted that six networks broadcasting WNBA games set viewership records in 2024 during games in which Clark’s Fever were featured.

According to Sports Media Watch, no WNBA game had averaged more than one million viewers since the 2008 season. During the 2024 campaign, 23 WNBA contests eclipsed that threshold. Clark played in 20 out of those 23 games.

It was uncertain how Clark’s transition to the WNBA would unfold, but the fervor and attention for her picked right up from where she left it in college. While she was playing with the University of Iowa, her matchup against LSU’s Angel Reese during the 2024 edition of March Madness became the most watched women’s college basketball game ever.

Clark was named Time Magazine’s Athlete of the Year in 2024, telling the publication, “I’ve been able to captivate so many people that have never watched women’s sports, let alone women’s basketball, and turn them into fans.”

There’s something to be said for Clark’s ascension and how it’s completely transformed the WNBA. She played college basketball for four years, giving the public a chance to get to know her and invest themselves (literally and emotionally) in her success. That’s a blueprint most elite NBA prospects just don’t follow.

Additionally, it appears as if Clark’s popularity has no limits, whether it’s people rooting for her or against her. While the skill level of NBA players has arguably never been higher, they don’t seem to have that one polarizing player that dominates the headlines like Clark.

During the summer of 2024, the WNBA capitalized on the increased attention by signing an 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal, as reported by ESPN.

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