But the news was just announced that   WNBA TV ratings are down more than 50%   since Caitlyn Clark’s injury. And it was   also reported that the Indiana Fever   television viewership is also down over   53%.   Now, I know a lot of us were expecting   some sort of dip since Caitlyn Clark has   been out with injury, but I don’t think   all of us were expecting the entire   viewership of the entire WNBA. The WNBA   just got a brutal reality check. Without   Caitlyn Clark, the product feels like   Netflix buffering on dialup. Playoff   ratings didn’t just dip. They nose dived   like a phone on 1% at midnight. Fans   aren’t glued to the action.

They’re   dozing off or flipping channels faster   than a bad sitcom pilot. Did the   audience truly disappear? Or are they   sneaking off to watch pickle ball clips   instead? Either way, this playoff mess   has more drama than a reality show   reunion episode gone off the rails.   Guys, today is there any chance that the   WNBA that Kathy Anglebert saw some of   the ratings that I’m about to show you   now and said, “Hey, Indiana Fever, can   you do us a favor? Can you do us a   solid? Can you just tease a Kaylin Clark   return? Kind of boost these up a little   bit. Can you just dangle a Kaylin Clark   return in front of the fans faces? try   to boost these ratings up a little bit.

There was one matchup that this league   can consistently rely on to produce   massive viewership numbers.   The WNBA wanted this season to be the   moment, the big year, the breakthrough,   the season where the league finally   steps out of the shadows and proves it   can hang with the big boys.   Instead, it feels like the entire league   took one giant prep fall, faceplanted   into a bucket of nacho cheese, and then   tried to pretend it was part of the   plan.   What a shocker. Imagine my surprise.   Just imagine my surprise when Uncle KC   found out that the WNBA is struggling to   maintain their ratings without Caitlyn   Clark. To make matters worse, and this   is something I have definitely noticed   in the last three or four weeks,   especially since the All-Star game, the   WNBA seems to be struggling to maintain   interest.   Let’s just be honest here.

This WNBA   season has been a beautiful,   catastrophic dumpster fire.   If you were watching for the basketball,   you got a mix of injuries, foul calls   is going to collapse before the playoffs   finish. Spoiler alert, it’s holding on   by the thin piece of duct tape known as   Please don’t notice how bad this is.   The WNBA’s black superstars should thank   their lucky stars for the record ratings   Caitlyn Clark is detonating. Even if new   fans are mostly white fans, it doesn’t   matter what color eyeballs are.

But the   other day, I must admit, it hit me like   Katie Bell Henderson telling me that’s   enough. I told myself it’s not racist   for me to like Caitlyn.   And speaking of bad, how about those   officiating calls? Oh yes, the referees   this season look like they were pulled   straight out of a mall food court during   lunch rush.   One of them is still chewing a slice of   Sparrow pizza while deciding whether to   call a flagrant foul. Another looks like   they thought they were hired to   officiate a roller derby.

The   consistency is somewhere between Magic   Eightball and fortune cookie. One game a   shove is nothing. The next game someone   sneezes too aggressively and they’re   ejected. If the referees had their own   player stat line this year, it would   read turnovers zero bad calls every   single possession.   The WNBA has a problem.   And that problem is Caitlyn Clark not   playing in WNBA games.   Now, what all does this affect? The   ratings are plummeting,   guys. cuz there’s a rate there’s ratings   for a couple of these games that are   eyepoppingly.   Now, let’s get to the injuries because   oh boy, the WNBA this year looks less   like a basketball league and more like   an orthopedic surgeon’s Christmas wish   list.

Caitlyn Clark has spent more time   recovering than playing, mostly because   defenders treat her like she owes them   money. Every drive to the basket looks   like a new episode of How Hard Can We   Smash Caitlyn before the ref notices?   And the answer is harder than you think.   But Clark isn’t the only casualty of   this basketball apocalypse.   Sophie Cunningham, the supposed shining   star of the league, the kind of player   they plaster on posters and pretend is   the face of the future, is now out for   the entire season. Gone. Done. Waving   from the injury list like she’s starring   in a spin-off show called Sophie’s Torn   Something. You could practically hear   the commissioner’s office sigh in   relief. Oh, good. One less star player   we have to market properly. And if   Sophie wasn’t enough, Angel Ree said,   “You know what? I’m out.” She quit   mid-season, which in most sports is   considered shocking.

But in the WNBA   feels more like a commentary on the   league itself.   Because let’s be real, if your   commissioner can’t keep the league   running smoothly, if the refs are   auditioning for clown school, and if   players are dropping like flies on a hot   July afternoon, then why wouldn’t   someone decide to bail?   Reese probably figured she’d rather   spend her time on Instagram than risk   another game where she gets tackled like   she’s auditioning for the NFL.   That’s not a trend that the WNBA is   excited about. That’s a trend that Kathy   Angleberg would say, “Hey, Fever. Hey,   Lind Dun. Hey, Kelly. Hey, Amber. Can   you guys start dangling that Caitlyn   Clark return like you used to do?” You   know, before Kaitlin Clark gave a   statement and you guys were hands off.   Can you guys, you know, just string them   along a little bit more? We want to get   these ratings back up. We want to get   these numbers back.   Here’s the thing. None of this is   happening in a vacuum. The WNBA has been   begging people for years to take it   seriously, to give it the spotlight, to   treat it as more than just an   afterthought, but the league itself   isn’t doing it any favors. The   commissioner seems allergic to player   protection, as if the idea of enforcing   rules and protecting stars is just too   radical.   Imagine if the NBA let LeBron James get   body checked on every possession without   calling fouls. The league would collapse   faster than a cheap camping chair.

But in the WNBA, it’s just another   Tuesday night. And speaking of collapse,   let’s talk about ratings because this is   where the comedy really writes itself.   Early in the season, when Caitlyn Clark   was still upright, the number spiked.   People actually tuned in, curious to see   if the hype was real.   The pre-Clark injury days were golden.   Suddenly, ESPN was pretending like they   cared. highlights made it onto Sports   Center and Twitter users pretended to   know what a pick and roll is. But the   second she was out, the ratings dropped   faster than Angel Reese’s interest in   finishing the season. It’s almost like   the WNBA finally discovered what happens   when your marketing plan is one player   and your refereeing plan is let her get   punched in the face. Now, some fans   might argue that this is just a rough   patch, that injuries happen, that foul   calls are part of the game.

But let’s be   honest, this isn’t just bad luck, it’s   bad leadership. The commissioner has   been sitting back like a substitute   teacher who’s lost control of the class.   Instead of fixing problems, the league   doubled down on ignoring them. Star   players dropping out. Eh, it’s fine.   Referees making games unwatchable.   Don’t worry, the fans will stick around.   Spoiler, they didn’t. Was at Indiana   against the Chicago Sky right after that   game. They open an investigation once   again into the fans where they found   nothing, but the damage had already been   done at that point. If some of these   things happen just one time here and   there, or there’s one certain media   personality who’s just always saying   these kind of things, then whatever. I   feel like fans as a whole can be like,   “Okay, whatever. This person is just a   hater.” But this is something that has   happened over and over and over again.

And over time, it starts chipping away   at how much you’re going to actually   care and want to support an organization   if they continue to do things like and   the players who are still healthy,   they’re forced to play in games that   look less like basketball and more like   a combination of rugby and professional   wrestling.

Half the time you’re not sure   if you’re watching a playoff game or the   WWE SummerSlam.   You expect someone to grab a steel chair   any moment. Meanwhile, the commissioner   still does interviews talking about how   the league is growing and building   momentum.   Sure. And I’m growing taller every time   I wear high heels. But instead of   protecting the stars, they let the   season spiral into chaos. Cunningham is   out. Ree quit. Clark got wrecked. and   the playoffs. They feel less like a   championship and more like a funeral   march for what could have been. The   saddest part, the players themselves   deserve better. These women are out   there giving everything, even as the   system around them crumbles. They don’t   deserve refs who whistle like they’re at   a birthday party for toddlers.   They don’t deserve leadership that   treats their health like an optional   side quest.

They don’t deserve a league   that markets them only when it’s   convenient and abandons them the second   things get tough. But here we are. The   WNBA season limping to a close. Ratings   circling the drain, stars on the injured   list, and fans shaking their heads   wondering if the league can even survive   another year like this. If this was   supposed to be the season of growth,   then congratulations. It grew into the   biggest mess imaginable.   Oh,   with this Caitlyn Clark thing, man. I   mean it it’s embarrassing. It is   embarrassing what you guys have done.   And then people are catching on to your   tactics. You got the people on Twitter   catching on to your tactics.   Like look at this right here.   Look at this right here. They say ESPN   didn’t want to show the ratings were   down from WNBA Allstar game because   Caitlyn Clark didn’t. Maybe next year   the commissioner will take player safety   seriously.   Maybe the referees will learn what a   foul is. Maybe stars like Caitlyn Clark   will actually be able to finish a season   without being tackled into early   retirement.   But until then, the WNBA is on the   brink. And it’s not because fans don’t   care. It’s because leadership doesn’t.

The WNBA thought this was going to be   the year of endless ticket sales.   The year where arenas would be packed,   fans lining up outside like it was the   release of the new iPhone. Instead, the   reality has been empty seats that echo   louder than the referee whistles. You   could probably bring your entire   extended family, your dog, your   neighbor’s hamster, and still find a row   of seats with legroom. And the league   wants to act like this is all part of   the plan. The truth is, without Clark   drawing viewers, without Cunningham on   the floor, and without Ree stirring up   drama, the WNBA ticket sales collapsed   faster than a Jenga tower in an   earthquake. But the funniest part of all   this, the league tries to spin it.   Social media posts are still rolling out   like everything is normal. Another   exciting night of WNBA action, they say.   Meanwhile, fans in the comments are   like, “Exciting where?” At which game   dimension? The replies are filled with   people posting memes of tumble weeds   rolling across empty seats.   You know it’s bad when your own   marketing tweets become a comedy show   for fans who’ve clearly given up hope.   This mean roads. Well, how about this?   Pay us what you owe us.   That looks like a ham sandwich and some   lazed tater chips right now.

It’s   getting bad. Um, I feel bad for Caitlyn   Clark. She come out and said on Sue   Bird’s podcast that she’s feeling the   pressure of not   playing in these games. And that Fever   Sky viewership fell off the map.   Let’s not forget the commissioner   herself. She deserves an Oscar for   acting like nothing is wrong. She gets   on camera talking about how the league   is in the best position it’s ever been.   That’s like the captain of the Titanic   bragging about how the ship looks great   underwater.   Sure, technically it’s still floating,   but not in the way you want. The   commissioner has become a master of   denial, like a magician who tries to   distract you with card tricks while the   entire stage is on fire.

And when people   call her out, when fans demand   accountability for all the injuries, the   terrible officiating, and the obvious   lack of player protection,   silence,   or worse, some can’t response about   reviewing our protocols,   which translated into actual English   means, “We’ll do nothing, but we’ll use   big words so you feel like we did   something.” Now, contrast this disaster   with how other leagues handle their   stars.   The league bends over backward to   protect its money makers. Because guess   what?   Without your stars, nobody watches.   Without your stars, ratings die. Without   your stars, ticket sales plummet. It’s   not rocket science. It’s basic business.   The NFL,   same thing.

Quarterbacks are treated
like priceless works of art. You so much    as breathe too hard on Patrick Mahomes    and referees will throw a flag faster    than you can say roughing the passer.    Meanwhile, in the WNBA, Caitlyn Clark is    body checked into the scorers table and    the refs are like, “Play on. Nothing to    see here.

No wonder fans are furious.    No wonder people are tuning out.”    I’ve got some good news and some bad    news for those who are fans of pretend    basketball. for those who are desperate    to see the WNBA succeed, even though    this dump of a league can’t seem to get    the hell out of their own way. Now, the    WNBA, they refer to these people as    fans, but the rest of us, we prefer to    call them the mainstream media. And    let’s talk about those fans for a second    because honestly, they deserve medals.    Imagine sticking with this league all    season, buying tickets, buying jerseys,    supporting the players, only to be    rewarded with chaos, injuries, empty    arenas, and officiating that makes high    school intram murals look professional.

The diehard fans must feel like they’ve    been trapped in a toxic relationship.    They keep hoping things will get better,    but instead, the league forgets their    anniversary, wrecks their car, and then    blames them for not being supportive    enough. Protect Caitlyn Clark. Where’s    the leadership? Why is this ref still    employed? Why are ticket prices higher    than my phone bill for games that look    like Sunday pickup at the YMCA?    It’s endless. And instead of fixing the    problems, the league pretends the    comments don’t exist. Like a teenager    ignoring chores until their parents give    up. And then there’s the looming    question that everyone’s thinking, but    nobody in the commissioner’s office    wants to answer. Is the WNBA actually on    the brink of collapse? Because it sure    looks like it. Financially, they can’t    afford another season like this. Ratings    tanked. Ticket sales are embarrassing.    Star power is gone. Momentum evaporated    the moment Clark was sidelined.

It feels like the league is dangling    from a cliff by one pinky finger while    the commissioner stands above saying,    “Don’t worry, we’re growing.    Let’s get real. If the WNBA collapses,    it won’t be because fans didn’t care. It    won’t be because women’s sports can’t    thrive. It’ll be because the league    leadership failed the players, failed    the fans, and failed itself. Because how    do you build a sustainable league when    every year feels like a fresh episode of    Who’s injured this time? How do you    build loyalty when referees make games    unwatchable?    How do you expand when your stars are    more likely to end the season in    crutches than with a trophy?    You see, you see this is exactly what we    were talking about. WNBA Allstar ratings    are in for 2025 and it is down 40%.    40% from last year. That’s bad. That is    really bad. We already watched the    ticket prices drop by more than 50%    because Caitlyn Clark was not playing.    This is bad news for the WNBA.    And before anyone tries to sugarcoat it,    let’s state the obvious. This season is    already a failure.

No amount of PR spin    can change that. You can’t slap a fresh    coat of paint on a crumbling building    and call it a mansion. The WNBA can call    the playoffs exciting. They can push    marketing campaigns. They can tweet    about record-breaking moments, but fans    know the truth. This season has been one    long blooper reel. What makes it worse    is the wasted opportunity.    Caitlyn Clark had people tuning in. She    had people talking. She had casual fans    invested for the first time in forever.

This was the window, the chance to show    the world that the WNBA could shine.    Don’t protect your players. Want to know    how to kill fan loyalty? Charge some    premium prices to watch games that feel    like Wreck League basketball with better    uniforms.    It’s a masterclass in self-destruction.    The sad part is it doesn’t have to be    this way.    With real leadership, with referees who    actually know the rule book, with a    commissioner who prioritizes player    safety, the WNBA could thrive. But    instead, we’re watching a slow motion    collapse, one twisted ankle at a time.    So all of you guys can sit there and    say, “Oh, you guys are just trying to    uplift one player. Oh, the league is    more than one.” I agree. The league is    more than one player. It’s more than one    good basketball player. But is there    more than one player that moves the    tide?

No. So, as the season crawls to    its ugly finish, let’s call it what it    is, a mess. A spectacular, ridiculous,    embarrassing mess. The commissioner can    talk about growth all she wants, but    fans see the truth.    And unless something changes, unless    there’s a real overhaul, unless the    league stops treating its stars like    disposable props, this mess isn’t going    away. But if this season proved    anything, it’s this. No matter how much    hype you build, no matter how many stars    you market, it means nothing if you    can’t protect them.    And until that changes, the WNBA will    keep stumbling season after season while    fans keep asking themselves why they    should even bother. If you enjoyed    leaving a like and subscribing, more    videos are on the screen now.