00:00:00
nuts The mainstream media they have
00:00:01
tried to convince us that Paige Beckers
00:00:04
is a draw Me
00:00:07
personally I think she's a star but I'm
00:00:10
not exactly convinced that she is a draw
00:00:14
Ever wondered why the media is hyping
00:00:16
Paige Bucher over Caitlyn Clark when the
00:00:18
numbers tell a different story Buer's
00:00:20
draft night viewership came in at just
00:00:22
half of what Clark pulled last year 1.3
00:00:25
million versus 2.6 million viewers That
00:00:28
stark contrast undermines the popular
00:00:30
narrative Both players have impressive
00:00:32
credentials Beckers with her
00:00:33
championship Clark with her scoring
00:00:35
records but these viewership figures
00:00:37
reveal something significant beneath the
00:00:39
surface but she ain't on Caitlyn Clark's
00:00:42
level in terms of excitement or
00:00:44
accomplishment And I know they just won
00:00:45
a national championship but she's play
00:00:48
she played with two players that are
00:00:50
either just as good and Sarah Strong's
00:00:51
probably better than her or will be
00:00:53
better than her I'm going to break down
00:00:55
what these ratings actually mean why
00:00:58
there's such a disconnection between
00:00:59
media narratives and public interest and
00:01:02
let's peel back the layers behind these
00:01:04
numbers to reveal the true market
00:01:06
dynamics There are a lot of stars There
00:01:09
are very very few draws So the much
00:01:12
anticipated WNBA draft way this week and
00:01:15
Paige Becker stepped out with her
00:01:17
girlfriend and let's just say the Enour
00:01:20
even was a show This is probably
00:01:22
the most horrible ran draft I've seen in
00:01:25
sports history Like this was just
00:01:26
terrible The WNBA did a horrible job
00:01:28
with this From one the marketing was
00:01:30
terrible all the way up until the draft
00:01:33
itself It was just bad And the numbers
00:01:35
are in and they tell a fascinating story
00:01:38
that nobody in the mainstream sports
00:01:40
media wants to talk about While
00:01:42
everyone's celebrating Paige Beckers
00:01:44
pulling in 1.3 million viewers as if
00:01:47
it's some kind of triumph for women's
00:01:49
basketball there's a glaring reality
00:01:51
being swept under the rug Now that
00:01:53
number it can be credited 100% to Paige
00:01:57
Beckers because every other player
00:02:00
involved was completely unknown That 1.3
00:02:03
million might sound impressive until you
00:02:05
compare it to the viewership Caitlyn
00:02:07
Clark generated last year A staggering
00:02:09
2.6 6 million people tuned in That's
00:02:12
double the audience folks Last year 2.45
00:02:16
million peaked with 3.09 million up
00:02:22
37% from the previous high back in
00:02:28
2004 You guys might be asking what was
00:02:30
the ratings back in 2004 A very curious
00:02:34
bunch I appreciate it We all want to
00:02:36
stay informed Me as well
00:02:39
601,000 from 2004 This 50% collapse in
00:02:43
viewership represents a clear signal
00:02:45
about who actually drives interest in
00:02:47
women's basketball The WNBA and ESPN
00:02:50
have been working overtime pushing the
00:02:52
narrative that Bukers is the new face of
00:02:54
the league but the numbers tell a
00:02:56
different story It's like scheduling a
00:02:57
double header with Clark playing the
00:02:59
first game and Bukers the second then
00:03:01
watching half the crowd leave after
00:03:03
Clark's performance ends During the
00:03:05
draft broadcast a reporter awkwardly
00:03:07
fumbled players names during interviews
00:03:10
symbolic of the diminished excitement
00:03:11
surrounding this draft class compared to
00:03:13
last year's Clark dominated event I'm
00:03:16
here with Ana and Rakia Oh no And we are
00:03:19
holding it down right now Oh sorry Go
00:03:22
ahead My bad It's okay Sorry Go ahead
00:03:24
Say your name Cheyenne Zard I'm so sorry
00:03:28
That is embarrassing Um Cheyenne I
00:03:30
apologize Even veteran broadcaster Tim
00:03:32
Wilson remarked off air "I've never seen
00:03:35
such a stark difference in energy from
00:03:37
one draft to the next," "This ratings
00:03:39
drop should set off alarm bells
00:03:41
throughout the WNBA front office." After
00:03:44
all the momentum Caitlyn Clark built
00:03:46
last season breaking viewership records
00:03:48
selling out arenas generating mainstream
00:03:50
interest the question looms are we
00:03:53
watching that momentum evaporate without
00:03:55
her dominating the headlines Why was
00:03:57
last year's draft such a big deal Well
00:04:00
Kaitlin Clark was getting drafted Number
00:04:03
reason one Reason number one Kaitlin
00:04:05
Clark getting drafted Reason number two
00:04:09
why it was such a big deal Well Caitlyn
00:04:11
Clark was going number one overall And
00:04:14
the third reason why calling a spade a
00:04:17
spade here these three women Angel Ree
00:04:21
Caitlyn Clark Cameron
00:04:23
Brink perfect storm These numbers matter
00:04:26
beyond popularity contests In
00:04:29
professional sports TV ratings directly
00:04:31
translate to real world value
00:04:33
Determining advertising rates
00:04:35
influencing sponsorship deals affecting
00:04:37
team valuations and ultimately impacting
00:04:40
player salaries A 50% viewership drop
00:04:43
potentially costs the league millions in
00:04:45
revenue opportunities Go It's down 49%
00:04:52
49% of the audience
00:04:55
said "Yeah um I'll go watch Paint Dry
00:04:58
instead." In fact some people Jason
00:05:01
Whitlock he didn't even realize the WNBA
00:05:04
draft took place the other night He
00:05:06
found that out the next morning that
00:05:08
Paige Beckers and the WNBA draft had
00:05:10
actually taken place What makes this
00:05:12
situation revealing is how much effort
00:05:14
the league and ESPN invested in
00:05:16
promoting Bukers For weeks leading up to
00:05:18
the draft profile pieces feature stories
00:05:21
and endless commentary positioned her as
00:05:23
women's basketball's brightest star Yet
00:05:25
despite the media machine working at
00:05:27
full capacity viewers simply didn't
00:05:29
respond with the same enthusiasm they
00:05:31
showed for Clark They they've been on a
00:05:34
campaign for the last 3 years to argue
00:05:37
that Paige Becker's the Yukon star is
00:05:40
actually better than Caitlyn Clark
00:05:42
Social media reaction to these ratings
00:05:44
has been telling Fans immediately
00:05:46
recognized what these numbers represent
00:05:48
Concrete evidence that Caitlyn Clark
00:05:50
remains the biggest draw in women's
00:05:51
basketball by far The viewership data
00:05:54
provides undeniable proof of who
00:05:56
actually captures the public's
00:05:57
imagination This substantial ratings gap
00:06:00
raises serious questions about the
00:06:02
WNBA's strategy Can they sustain Clark's
00:06:04
momentum when she's not the central
00:06:06
focus Will financial gains from last
00:06:08
year's Clarkdriven interest erode if
00:06:10
viewership continues to slide And
00:06:12
perhaps most importantly is the league
00:06:14
misreading what its audience actually
00:06:16
wants For all the talk about Buer being
00:06:19
the next face of women's basketball
00:06:21
these ratings demonstrate that Clark
00:06:23
already is the face and by a
00:06:25
considerable margin Whether or not Paige
00:06:28
Beckers is a star or a draw that remains
00:06:30
to be seen Judging by the ratings for
00:06:33
the Dump Diver draft the other night
00:06:35
Paige Beckers is not a mainstream draw
00:06:38
yet When we compare these two stars one
00:06:40
question keeps getting overlooked Which
00:06:42
is more impressive winning a single
00:06:44
championship or completely rewriting the
00:06:46
NC8A record books The media spotlight on
00:06:49
Buer's title has cast a shadow over
00:06:51
Clark's unprecedented statistical
00:06:53
dominance She obliterated marks that
00:06:55
stood for half a century while doing
00:06:57
things no basketball player has ever
00:07:00
done before
00:07:05
[Music]
00:07:11
Caitlyn Clark now has
00:07:16
3,528 points in her career She has
00:07:20
officially broken Kelsey Blow's record
00:07:23
from 2017 Yes Paige Beckers has that
00:07:27
shiny championship trophy and she
00:07:29
absolutely deserves credit for leading
00:07:31
Yukon to the title but Caitlyn Clark
00:07:33
became the all-time NCAA scoring leader
00:07:36
by shattering a 50-year-old record a
00:07:38
historic milestone untouched for five
00:07:40
decades of college basketball This
00:07:42
represents just the beginning of Clark's
00:07:44
statistical dominance Clark led the
00:07:47
nation in both scoring and assists in
00:07:49
the same season multiple times something
00:07:51
virtually no other player in NCAA
00:07:54
history has accomplished This
00:07:56
achievement represents basketball's
00:07:57
ultimate paradox being simultaneously
00:07:59
the best scorer and the best playmaker
00:08:02
It's basketball's equivalent of
00:08:03
combining Michael Jordan's scoring
00:08:05
prowess with Magic Johnson's playmaking
00:08:07
vision Uh I've seen Paige Fukers across
00:08:10
social media for the last 5 years it
00:08:11
feels like
00:08:13
Um she's an elite female college
00:08:16
basketball player Had some knee injuries
00:08:18
uh that she's rebounded from but she's
00:08:19
healthy right now Um so she kind of sits
00:08:22
behind Caitlyn Clark Uh and I think that
00:08:24
that makes her a fade for me because I
00:08:26
think that Caitlyn Clark's shadow is
00:08:28
real I think Caitlyn Clark is so
00:08:30
dominant and changing the game Their
00:08:32
final season statistics tell a revealing
00:08:34
story Clark produced 31.6 points 8.9
00:08:38
assists and 7.4 rebounds per game
00:08:41
Approaching triple double territory
00:08:43
Buckers while excellent finished with
00:08:44
21.9 points 3.8 assists and 5.2 rebounds
00:08:49
The gap becomes apparent Clark averaged
00:08:51
nearly 10 more points per game and more
00:08:53
than doubled Buer's assist production
00:08:55
while grabbing more rebounds The media's
00:08:57
focus on Bucker's championship banner
00:08:59
while minimizing Clark's statistical
00:09:01
revolution creates a fundamental
00:09:03
imbalance in how these athletes are
00:09:05
evaluated While Bucker's championship
00:09:07
represents a brilliant moment of
00:09:08
achievement Clark's record-breaking
00:09:10
career burns like a sustained inferno
00:09:12
that transformed the entire landscape of
00:09:15
women's basketball Notice that the media
00:09:18
has been overwhelmingly positive in
00:09:20
their coverage of Paige Beckers Clark
00:09:22
turned regular season games into prime
00:09:24
time events packed arenas to capacity
00:09:27
and generated unprecedented mainstream
00:09:29
coverage for women's basketball Her
00:09:31
impact extended beyond statistics She
00:09:34
reshaped the sport's visibility and
00:09:36
popularity in real time What makes this
00:09:38
comparison particularly striking is how
00:09:40
Clark achieved these feats while facing
00:09:42
defenses specifically designed to stop
00:09:45
her Every opponent knew Clark was
00:09:47
getting the ball yet they remained
00:09:49
powerless to contain her offensive
00:09:50
brilliance You see the media is fine
00:09:54
with Paige being the face of the WNBA
00:09:57
because she's already proven to be a
00:09:59
loyal comrade They can depend on her
00:10:02
maybe even control her They can't do
00:10:05
that with Caitlyn Clark either because
00:10:07
she is unwilling or she's realized that
00:10:10
she does not need the media to be a
00:10:12
mainstream draw I think this WNBA season
00:10:16
is going to be dominated by this media
00:10:19
created rivalry between Caitlyn Clark
00:10:21
and Paige Becker But let's be real the
00:10:24
narrative disconnect becomes especially
00:10:25
apparent when compared to how similar
00:10:27
achievements are celebrated in other
00:10:29
contexts When LeBron James surpassed
00:10:32
Kareem Abdul Jabbar's scoring record it
00:10:34
dominated sports headlines for weeks
00:10:36
Clark's NCAA scoring record often
00:10:38
received secondary treatment Impressive
00:10:41
but she lacks a championship Both
00:10:43
players represent extraordinary talent
00:10:45
Guckers demonstrated championship medal
00:10:47
under intense pressure However Clark's
00:10:50
unprecedented statistical achievements
00:10:52
and transformative impact on women's
00:10:54
basketball deserve equal recognition
00:10:56
rather than being diminished by
00:10:57
championship ccentric media coverage I
00:11:00
think the media is creating this rivalry
00:11:03
between Caitlyn Clark and Paige Beckers
00:11:06
hoping that Paige Beckers will become
00:11:08
the new face of the WNBA The stark
00:11:11
difference in how the media treats
00:11:12
Caitlyn Clark versus Paige Bukers isn't
00:11:15
just disappointing It's beginning to
00:11:17
look like part of a larger strategy Did
00:11:19
you notice the dramatic shift in this
00:11:21
year's WNBA draft presentation compared
00:11:24
to last year From the fashion choices to
00:11:26
the interview questions something major
00:11:28
has changed in how the league is
00:11:30
positioning itself and many fans are
00:11:32
connecting some very concerning dots The
00:11:34
visual transformation at the draft was
00:11:36
impossible to miss Last year's classy
00:11:38
red carpet elegance with elegant dresses
00:11:40
and glamorous styling starkly contrasts
00:11:43
with this year's eclectic unpredictable
00:11:45
styles almost as if the league is
00:11:47
signaling a new era This shift was so
00:11:49
pronounced that fans immediately flooded
00:11:51
social media Are we watching the same
00:11:53
league as last year One viral tweet
00:11:56
questioned while another noted the WNBA
00:11:59
is clearly making a statement about its
00:12:01
direction here I don't know if you
00:12:02
remember how feminine the WNBA draft was
00:12:05
ladies all dressed up nice and feminine
00:12:08
Uh clearly with Paige Beckers at the top
00:12:10
of the draft they went a different route
00:12:12
Uh she dressed as a little
00:12:15
man Uh good luck to her This visual
00:12:18
pivot represents a calculated decision
00:12:21
about the WNBA's image After Clark
00:12:23
brought millions of new eyeballs to
00:12:25
women's basketball the league appears to
00:12:27
be making deliberate choices about which
00:12:29
audience segments it wants to prioritize
00:12:32
Many fans are asking "Is the league
00:12:34
actively moving away from the mainstream
00:12:36
appeal Clark created?" The media's
00:12:38
treatment of Bucker's identity as part
00:12:40
of the LGBTQ plus community highlights
00:12:43
this strategic shift Bucker's openness
00:12:45
about her identity absolutely deserves
00:12:47
celebration and support The issue lies
00:12:49
in how media outlets seem to be using
00:12:52
this aspect to manufacture an artificial
00:12:54
contrast with Clark positioning Buckers
00:12:56
as the player the league truly wants
00:12:58
representing its future There's been a
00:13:00
lot of speculation this week as to why
00:13:03
Paige Beckers was instantly embraced by
00:13:06
the WNBA Some are claiming that she was
00:13:09
accepted because she identifies with the
00:13:12
first letter in the identifier alphabet
00:13:15
L This calculated effort manifests
00:13:17
through dramatically different coverage
00:13:19
each player receives Clark faces
00:13:21
relentless scrutiny about everything
00:13:23
from her defensive capabilities to her
00:13:25
facial expressions during games While
00:13:27
Buckers enjoys almost universally
00:13:29
positive media treatment some outlets
00:13:31
have criticized Clark's race while
00:13:33
Buckers receives glowing praise
00:13:34
regardless of context The disparity has
00:13:37
become so obvious that fans are
00:13:39
increasingly vocal about this perceived
00:13:40
bias I think that's why so many WNBA
00:13:45
players are going to greet Paige Beckers
00:13:48
with open arms even though she's white
00:13:51
Uh it's because she seems to be on the
00:13:54
same sexual team as everyone else in the
00:13:57
WNBA What we're seeing appears to be a
00:13:59
manufactured rivalry rather than
00:14:01
allowing these extraordinary talents to
00:14:03
develop their competitive narrative
00:14:05
naturally on the court Instead of
00:14:07
celebrating both players for their
00:14:08
unique strengths the media seems
00:14:10
determined to elevate one while
00:14:12
diminishing the other This approach
00:14:14
risks alienating the new wave of fans
00:14:16
Clark attracted If you started watching
00:14:18
because of Clark's historic achievements
00:14:20
how would you feel seeing the media
00:14:22
constantly downplay her accomplishments
00:14:24
The dramatic ratings decline we've
00:14:26
already witnessed could worsen if this
00:14:28
continues The media will continue
00:14:30
demonizing Caitlyn Clark while praising
00:14:34
her rival and they're hoping that people
00:14:36
will instantly follow Paige Beckers
00:14:38
because she also lacks melanin The most
00:14:41
frustrating aspect is the complete lack
00:14:43
of necessity for this manufactured
00:14:45
narrative Both Clark and Bukers are
00:14:47
exceptional talents who could
00:14:48
collectively elevate women's basketball
00:14:50
to unprecedented heights Their
00:14:53
contrasting styles could create an
00:14:54
organic rivalry driving interest for
00:14:57
years If only the media would allow
00:14:58
their play on the court to speak for
00:15:00
itself
