The Caitlin Clark Fever affected all. From sold-out arenas to jersey sales, Clark seems to have completely changed the game. As she featured in 19 of the 22 games that crossed 1 million in TV viewership, her impact and potential profitability lured a $2.2 billion/ 11-year media rights agreement with the W. This marked a watershed moment since we have experienced how the league’s profitability hinges on media rights. And for her influence on the game just in her rookie year, the Indiana sensation is being compared to the legendary Serena Williams by a popular W agent.

On Wednesday’s episode of the Diggin’ Deep Podcast, Excel Sports Management Vice President Erin Kane weighed on the work done by Clark and equated it as similar to that done by Williams for women’s tennis.

“As far as clients like Caitlin. So it really is just about like setting the market and you know one thing? Alan always says and it’s very true is like ‘the market tells us just like it’s the fans that choose.’ I mean there’s this idea that like agents have all the control or you can just sort of say something and make it into reality,” Kane stated.

She had previously shared how she had signed the generational player in October last year. According to her, Clark was “doing this herself,” and that’s when Kane and Excel Sports stepped in through their partner Alan Zucker who has Payton and Eli Manning as his clients. And the talks seem to have concluded positively for all parties involved since the No. 22 signed as a client.

Maybe Clark getting a contract with such a big management company was in some way related to how big a fanbase she had to manage which also propelled her to the top in the league. “But like the reality is ‘You’re reading the situation like it’s the fans that choose, you know.’ There’s a handful of players that have like ignited this sort of level of excitement by being incredible at what they do,” Kane added.

via Imago

When Clark came into the W, she brought her NCAA fans with her. The NCAA Championship Finale between the Hawkeyes and the Gamecocks this year was watched by around 19 million viewers which eclipsed the clout of the men’s counterpart as the Huskies game attracted only 14.8 million.

Furthermore, as mentioned, she participated in 19 of the 22 games that crossed 1 million viewers. Even her WNBA All-Star Game attracted 3.44 million viewers, becoming the third most-watched W game in 25 years. Her Game 2 playoff appearance against the Connecticut Sun had 2.5 million viewers on ESPN, becoming the most-watched WNBA game ever to air only on cable TV. And it is this fan base that also got her compared to stalwarts like Williams and Simone Biles.

“But also it’s like how they do it. So it’s Serena Williams, or I mean you can pick there’s it’s the iconic athlete Simone Biles. Especially when it’s women and Caitlin’s one of those… It’s like how she plays the game really captured the attention of a much much broader fan base and so when you’re going to market those are the comps you’re sort of thinking of,” Kane enunciated.

Williams had a similar impact on tennis. The 23 Grand Slam singles titles winner brought a record 4.8 million viewers when she played against Ajla Tomljanović, which made it the most-watched tennis matchup in 43 years of history. Furthermore, the Serena effect is such that when she stepped back from the court to give birth to a daughter, the Black fans at the Flushing Meadow lessened by 10%.

It’s like a Serena or Simone or a Tiger Woods who changed golf or because she’s changing women’s basketball so she changed it yeah absolutely and it’s continuing,” Kane concluded.

Similarly, Tiger Woods and Simone Biles ushered in a new era in their respective sports. While Woods’ exceptional golfing attracted a large viewer base, similarly Biles, applauded for her perfection, got the US audience talking about gymnastics. However, this isn’t the first time that the Iowa native has been compared to Williams.

Caitlin Clark has previously been counted in the same league as Serena Williams

The generational talent, in her rookie season itself, set the stage ablaze with her numbers. She became the first rookie to not only have a triple-double but bag two. To top that, Clark ended the season with the highest points ever by a rookie (769) along with setting the single-season record for the most assists (337).

If that wasn’t enough, the ROTY also had the second-highest threes in a single season 122, standing only next to Sabrina Ionescu, called ‘Sa-3-na’ by her fans. For her on-court brilliance, at the end of the season, the Indiana sensation was compared to Wiliams and Biles by ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike.

“Caitlin Clark came into the WNBA as the most impactful women’s basketball player we’ve seen in a generation. What she has accomplished transcends not just women’s basketball, but women’s sports as a whole. The only other athletes who have moved the needle like this are Serena Williams and Simone Biles who just came off the Olympics,” Ogwumike had expressed.

And since she hasn’t been compared to Williams just once, it is indeed true that somewhere she has a bright future ahead of her comparable to that of the 5x Olympic gold medallist. And fans will be able to watch her brilliance soon, maybe in the Unrivaled, if not, then next season.