Caitlin Clark’s trading card popularity blows away other female stars
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Caitlin Clarke continues to rack up dominant numbers.
Clark attracted historic audiences and attendance for his basketball games this yearboth in college and in the WNBA.
And with the trading card industry booming, Clark made history by becoming the first woman to be named to Professional Sports Authenticator’s (PSA) Top 10 Most Collected Basketball Player of the Year.
He came in at number 6.
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Kaitlyn Clark of the Indiana Fever poses for a photo during her introductory press conference on April 17, 2024 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Clarke had more than 77,000 trading cards rated by PSA, and what sets her apart from the rest of the female competitors is how much she outperformed them.
UConn star Paige Bueckers was second with just 5,400 cards, and Angel Reese was third with 4,700.
This new data comes shortly after it was discovered that Clark’s Indiana fever sold 90 times more tickets on StubHub this year than in 2023. The second highest growing team was Reese’s Chicago Sky, and the Fever’s sales were almost double (up 93%).
The few WNBA playoff games without Clarke still drew fewer viewers than regular-season games with Clarke, and the Clarke-Reese duels had an audience that hadn’t been seen in more than two decades.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) rushes up the court during a preseason game against the Atlanta Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 9, 2024 in Indianapolis. (Grace Hollars/USA Today Sports/IMAGN)
Clarke was named Rookie of the Year for his historic campaign in which he set the record for most assists in a season. He led the Fever to the playoffs after a slow start. He even set a single-game record with 19 assists and also became the first rookie to record a triple-double, recording two of them.He received the most votes for the All-Star Game and just the fifth was the first player in league history to make the All-WNBA first team.
He used it all to become Time’s Athlete of the Year, drawing criticism from Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson.
“Why couldn’t they put the WNBA on that cover and say, ‘WNBA is the league of the year,’ because we have all the talent. Johnson said. “When you single out one player, it creates hard feelings. So now you’re starting to hear stories of racism in the WNBA, and I don’t want to hear that.”
Kaitlyn Clark of the Indiana Fever talks to the media during an introductory press conference on April 17, 2024 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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But it’s clear that Clarke has garnered much more attention for the sport, and she’s arguably the most popular female athlete in the country.
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