The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
ESPN, ABC pick up Caitlin Clark’s story
Caitlin Clark didn’t make many appearances on the ESPN networks this season.
However, Clark will get plenty of time on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC for at least the next six months. It starts this weekend with the women’s NCAA Tournament and will continue this summer when Clark has her rookie season in the WNBA, where she is expected to be drafted by the Indiana Fever.
“That’s the great benefit that we have in this position where we can document her last run through this chapter of her life. But for ESPN, we can pick up with the next chapter as well, and we can cover that for the next 20 years. That is huge for us to be able to continue to tell that story,” said ESPN VP of Production Sara Gaiero, who is in her first year leading production of the women’s tournament.
Iowa had only two away or neutral site games on ESPN2 after ESPN’s contract with the Big Ten expired. This was the first year of the conference’s rights deals with NBC, CBS and Fox.
Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes open tournament play Saturday against either Holy Cross or UT Martin, the first of what could be three appearances on ABC. The others are a possible Sweet 16 matchup in Albany, New York, on March 30 and the Hawkeyes can get to the title game in Cleveland on April 7.
Clark’s six appearances on Fox, NBC and CBS averaged 2.11 million viewers, with the last two drawing over 3 million. According to Nielsen and Sports Media Watch, seven men’s and women’s regular season college basketball games drew at least 3 million.
Clark should continue to command large viewership, even with the men’s tournament going on. On Saturday, the Iowa game only goes up against one men’s game on CBS and on March 30, the men’s regional finals do not begin until after 6 p.m. ET while the Albany regional contests on ABC are scheduled for the afternoon.
With her appearance on Saturday, Clark and Iowa also become the first women’s basketball player and team to appear on all four broadcast networks in the same season. The only other time that is accomplished is by some NFL teams or players.