The surge in the WNBA’s popularity owes much to the remarkable performance of Iowa Hawkeye standout Caitlin Clark, whose exceptional feats and numerous accolades propelled her to the top spot in the WNBA draft, where she was selected first overall by the Indiana Fever, one of the league’s twelve teams.
Although the WNBA has seen growth since its inception, boasting an increase in teams from the original eight, a total of twelve still falls short compared to its male counterpart, the NBA, which comprises thirty teams. Despite not yet matching NBA viewership ratings, the WNBA witnessed a notable 21% rise in viewership during the 2023 season compared to the previous year, particularly for nationally broadcasted games—a topic warranting separate discussion.
The surge in interest is evident in the substantial spike in viewership for the WNBA draft, with 2.4 million tuning in this year, marking a 300% increase. This surge hints at the potential for the upcoming season to break further viewership records, thus justifying the current push for WNBA expansion. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has expressed her desire to see the league expand, reiterating a call to increase the number of teams to 16 by 2028.
Given this momentum, it begs the question: Why not consider Iowa for expansion? Despite not being on Engelbert’s expansion agenda and concerns about Iowa’s population base’s capacity to financially sustain a team, the state presents compelling reasons why it could be an excellent host for a WNBA franchise.
