WNBA wants a bigger story than Caitlin Clark, but TV ratings keep pointing back to her

Is Angel Reese playing the victim card yet again? On this episode of Don't @ Me, Dan Dakich sounds off on Reese's controversial postgame comments regarding Indiana Fever fans and her ongoing rivalry with Caitlin Clark.

The WNBA and its media cheerleaders desperately want to prove that its fan-interest boom is bigger than Caitlin Clark.

But the numbers keep saying otherwise.

The latest example came last week, when Clark and the Indiana Fever defeated the Toronto Tempo 113-91 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 16. Clark recorded a double-double with 21 points and 14 assists, but perhaps more importantly, helped deliver a massive audience for USA Network.

Caitlin Clark helped draw a massive number for the Indiana Fever's June 16 win over the Toronto Tempo. (Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire)

The game averaged 1 million viewers, according to Sports Media Watch, making it the largest audience for a WNBA game on cable or streaming this season.

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That's a big number for the WNBA, especially considering the network on which it came.

This wasn't ABC. It wasn't CBS. It wasn't a national broadcast network with massive reach. It was USA Network, a cable channel, in the middle of June, on a Tuesday night.

Before Clark arrived, that kind of number was almost impossible for the WNBA to hit.

In fact, prior to Clark's rookie season, Sports Media Watch noted that the league had gone nearly 16 years without a seven-figure television audience. The last one came in 2008, when Candace Parker's first professional game drew 1.07 million viewers on ABC.

That was the old bar: seven figures on ABC.

Now, when Clark is involved, 1 million viewers on