The illustrious college career of Iowa women’s basketball superstar Caitlin Clark has come to an end. She left a legacy of incredible offensive numbers and viewership for women’s basketball reaching new heights.
That popularity translated into a huge economic boost to the Iowa City economy, home of the University of Iowa.
The mayor of Iowa City, Bruce Teague, let everyone know just how much value Caitlin Clark and her teammates created for the local area during a celebration of their team following their National Championship Game loss to South Carolina.That’s an eye-popping sum of money that Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes contributed to the local economy! I’m not exactly sure what methodology is being used to come up with that number, but we will take it at face value, I guess.
It’s not hard to believe that the team generated a boatload of cash for the area. Led by Clark, the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, tickets to Carver-Hawkeye Arena were hard to come by and often got to be pretty pricey. Their regular season finale against Big Ten Regular Season Champion Ohio State had tickets going for four figures, with the get-in price in the hundreds.
People coming in to watch Caitlin Clark and her teammates meant people staying in hotels, going out to eat, buying Hawkeye gear downtown, etc. I’m sure that local business owners were thrilled by the attention that she brought to the city.
The National Championship Game on Sunday was watched by just under 19 million people, setting a record for any women’s basketball game. It outdrew the Men’s National Championship Game on Monday by around 4 million people.
At that Wednesday night celebration, Iowa also announced that they were retiring Caitlin Clark’s #22.
Now, Caitlin Clark is off to the WNBA. She’s almost certain to be the first-overall pick to the Indiana Fever on Monday night. 36 of the Fever’s 40 regular season games are set to be broadcast on national television.
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