Rise of women’s basketball is ‘much more’ than Caitlin Clark: Megan Rapinoe

Megan Rapinoe emphasized that the Caitlin Clark effect was built on the foundation of past and present WNBA veterans.

The retired USWNT star explained that Clark — who was the No. 1 overall pick by the Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft — isn’t the only one who’s responsible for the growth of women’s basketball.

“Being at the Final Four was incredible. It felt like it was what the game deserved and what I think fans of women’s sports really deserved and I think in a huge part, it’s because Caitlin is standing on the shoulders of [retired Seattle legend and Rapinoe’s fiancée] Sue Bird and [Phoenix Mercury guard] Diana Taurasi and [retired four-time champion] Maya Moore and the [reigning champion Gamecocks head coach] Dawn Staleys and [Basketball Hall of Famer] Lisa Leslies — everybody,” Rapinoe said at the Business of Women’s Sports Summit in New York on Tuesday.

“The WNBA’s been around for 28 years and really doesn’t get the credit [as] the legacy women’s sports league that all of us are really basing all the other leagues off of and base so much of our structure.”

Rapinoe went on to explain that Clark’s celebrity and record-breaking season — the Iowa guard became the NCAA’s all-time Division I leading scorer, men’s or women’s, in March — dominated other storylines.

“It’s so much more than Caitlin, though. [There’s] a huge storyline around Dawn Staley and her game,” she said. “It doesn’t look like she’s slowing down. Incredible, undefeated [South Carolina] season and the only reason it wasn’t the only thing talked about is because Caitlin was going absolutely bonkers.”

The 38-year-old soccer icon described herself as a “real-life fangirl” post-retirement and said she can’t wait to see Clark play at the pro level.

“You gotta capture the moment also, and my God, she has,” Rapinoe said of the 22-year-old Clark. “I can’t wait. I’m going to the game when they play in Seattle and will be back here for the one in New York. I’m just as big a fan as anyone.”

Rapinoe also praised the WNBA for its work toward growing the league.

“I think particularly in the last five or six years, really since the bubble season, the work that the W did in solidifying who women’s basketball is — it’s very much black women, it’s very much gay women, it’s a very inclusive and open space,” she said.

Rapinoe added that the surge of the women’s game made her think of the USWNT and their fight for equal pay — which resulted in a historic equal pay settlement with U.S. Soccer in 2022, that will pay the women the same as the men’s team.

“I thought a lot about the national team because it’s such a solid foundation — a multigenerational, multi-decade foundation that our team was able to stand on and I was able to stand on, even for our fight for equal pay,” she said. “That made it possible to really capture a moment and have it not just be a flash in the pan.”

Clark played a major role in the dominance of this year’s women’s tournament and sold-out crowds throughout Iowa’s season — which added as much as $82.5 million to the state’s economy, according to a report from the Common Sense Institute.

Schools that hosted Clark and the Hawkeyes saw their attendance surge by more than 150% on average, according to The Associated Press.

The women’s national championship game on ABC and ESPN drew 18.7 million viewers — more than any basketball game (men’s or women’s and college or professional) since 2019, ESPN said.

Clark and the Hawkeyes’ run ended there, falling to Staley’s undefeated South Carolina squad, 87-75.

The broadcast peaked at a stunning 24 million viewers.

The Caitlin Clark effect proved to translate to the 2024 WNBA draft, which was the most-watched ever with 2.45 million viewers.

The WNBA will open training camps on April 28, and the season starts May 14.