Rich Davis: âFor as fun as itâs been to watch Caitlin Clarkâs journey in college womenâs hoops, do you think sheâll just fade into a little bit of obscurity for the Indiana Fever? The WNBA, whoâs never had a million people watch a game, and all the sudden Caitlin Clark will bring that on a team who got the first pick?âÂ
Steve Covino: âThe Big3 and Ice Cube offered her $5 million, but then Dave Portnoy of Barstool said âwell, screw that, Iâll give you $10 million to play in our intramural league.â Lil Durk offered her $10 million to do some nonsense. She needs to get what she can get right now while the iron is hot, but hereâs why... The Indiana Fever is only going to be so hot for so long before people lose interest, and I donât find Caitlin Clark â for as lights out as she is, as awesome as she is, and as important as she is to womenâs sports â she's not just that marketable.âÂ
Davis: âShe doesnât have the charisma of like a Shaquille OâNeal or some young star.âÂ
Covino: âJust like pure dominance on the court, I donât find her to be that likeable, and as a guy with a marketing background, Iâm going to tell you that does matter. Thereâs a reason Shaquille OâNeal is Shaquille OâNeal, because not only was he great on the court, he was great off the court. I donât think Caitlin Clark is that person. Iâd love for her to prove me wrong. I know it doesnât matter when sheâs on the court, but when youâre going to be the face of something big, you need to be marketable, and Iâm not sure she is. I know it doesnât matter what I think but I personally donât find her to be that likeable yet. Mike Trout is arguably the greatest player in baseball, but heâs boring and heâs not that likeable. Heâs not âhateableâ, but heâs not that likeable either. Womenâs basketball on the professional level is not that popular. She has to figure out a way to make her money and be as marketable as she can, when she can, and while she can, and that time is now.âÂ
Davis: âCaitlin Clark is going to be on a bad team in the WNBA and whatâs going to happen? Theyâll be alright and sheâll have her moments, but will she ever be as popular in the WNBA as she is right now for Iowa? NO.âÂ
Covino: âIâd love for her to prove me wrong and be that person. I feel bad saying what Iâm saying because sheâs the worldâs sweetheart right now, so Iâm not hating Iâm just stating, and thatâs just my personal opinion. The NBA, which backs the WNBA, will figure out a way to keep her and make sure sheâs paid to be that person. Theyâre not going to want to lose her to the Big3, Dave Portnoy, or anybody else.âÂ
Watch Steve Covino of Fox Sports Radioâs Overpromised with Covino & Rich explain why he doesnât think Iowa womenâs basketball star Caitlin Clark will be âlikeableâ or âmarketableâ enough to sustain her meteoric rise to fame in the financially strapped and culturally insignificant WNBA when her college career is over.Â
Monday nightâs Elite Eight matchup between Clarkâs Hawkeyes and LSU, a rematch of last seasonâs National Championship game, was the most-watched womenâs college basketball game ever, and was the most watched basketball game on ESPN, menâs or womenâs, since 2018. More than 12 million people tuned in to see the encore of the Clark vs. Angel Reese rivalry, with a peak audience reaching 16.1 million viewers. That was a higher total than any World Series, Stanley Cup, or NBA Finals game last season.Â
However, despite the immense attention Clark has brought the college game, Covino has his doubts to whether Clark can carryover her starpower to a WNBA that has struggled financially since its inception in 1996. The leagueâs highest-paid player makes just a shade over $250,000 a year, WNBA teams flew non-chartered commercial flights to games up until last year, and even NBA commissioner Adam Silver once admitted that the WNBA, fully subsidized by the NBA, was losing $10 million per season and struggling to capture the attention of female fans.
Check out the segment above as Covino is worried that Clark could become the WNBAâs version of 'boring' MLB superstar Mike Trout, as an otherworldly talent who isnât interesting or charismatic enough off the field to captivate a fledgling WNBA audience that wonât have the charm and pageantry of college basketball to fall back on.Â
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