Sarah Sollinger, Staff Writer–

If you are anything like me, Caitlin Clark is the first thing you see on social media in the morning, and the topic of the last post your mom sends you before she goes to bed. Her face might as well be my iPhone background, it pops up so often. 

Clark has quickly become a household name for logo-three point shots and the swagger sewn into her clothes. Her famed Iowa career was so fantastic that she permanently put the No. 22 into retirement for the women’s basketball team. 

As I see the viewership numbers that she has drawn, the NIL deals that she has garnered, and the fame that now seems to follow her everywhere she goes, I can’t help but wonder why. 

Why now?

Why not Cheryl Miller or Breanna Stewart? Candace Parker ran the gym in her orange jersey. 

They were revolutionary in their careers too. And yet we almost never heard about it. 

Cailtiln Clark is here because of them. The money she makes from her sponsorships comes from the once empty bank accounts of Miller and Stewart.

The foundation for the 18 million viewers of this year’s final March Madness games was born in the gym when almost nobody watched Sheryl Swoops and South Plains make their run. 

These women built it. 

Clark now runs it. 

When two years ago the women’s tournament was first allowed to use the “March Madness” name, Clark got one more spotlight. 

I am not here to argue that Clark is not special. She is a once in a lifetime player. The best we have seen yet. 

But that is just it.

We got to see her. 

We saw her on our TVs at home, in sports bars, and on billboards.

In 1975 the first women’s basketball game was ever put on television. Now, there is a sports bar that is entirely dedicated to women’s sports. Media coverage of women’s sports has almost tripled, and sites like Just Women’s Sports have been born to exclusively deliver womens based news. This year, the men’s March Madness championship averaged 14.82 million viewers. 

The women had 18.87 million. 

Clark is a national sensation because the nation has been able to see her.  

With moves like being the first athlete to be dressed by Prada for the draft, Clark is the bell of the basket-ball. But, as it goes in women’s sports, her record breaking behavior comes with a caveat. 

The outfit that Clark wore was worth $17,000. Which would be roughly 22% of her rookie salary. In her first year Clark will make around $76,500. The first draft pick of the NBA, Victor Wembanyama, made $12.1 million in his first year. 

Even with the Indiana Fever playing in the ten regular season games with the most expensive tickets, there isn’t enough cash in the WNBA to pay Clark that kind of money. 

Yet. 

While Clark’s fame and recognition has come off the backs of the women that came before her, Clark is nowhere near the end goal. 

With the Women’s National Basketball Association season coming up, the National Women’s Soccer League underway, and the Pro Volleyball Federation League for women making its debut, there is no shortage of women’s sports on the horizon. 

While there surely can’t be stars like Clark on every channel, how would we know unless we were watching?