'Caitlin Clark Effect' set to transform WNBA

LOS ANGELES – After a dazzling college career that smashed records on and off the basketball court, Caitlin Clark's legacy as a trailblazing icon for women's sport is already secure.

Now, as the 22-year-old prepares to be chosen with the No.1 pick in next week's WNBA draft, experts are predicting Clark may well have the same kind of transformative effect on women's professional basketball.

Cathy Engelbert, the WNBA's commissioner, said Monday that Clark and the next generation of women's basketball players will be economic engines that will ensure the league's financial footing for the next 30 years.

Engelbert told CNBC that the WNBA expects to see its existing media deals double in value, from around $50 million a year to $100 million, when they are next negotiated in 2025.

"We hope to at least double our rights fees," Engelbert said. "Women's sports rights fees have been undervalued for too long. So we have this enormous opportunity at a time when the media landscape is changing so much."

Engelbert said the arrival in the WNBA of Clark and other college stars such as Louisiana State University's Angel Reese and South Carolina's Kamilla Cardoso could have the same kind of impact as the 1980s rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, which helped create the modern NBA.

"I think we're setting the league up with this next media rights deal not just for the next three to five years but for the next 30," Engelbert said.

"If you look at the history of men's sports, do we have our 'Bird-Magic' moment like the NBA?"

The WNBA class of 2024 will bring with them built-in audiences from college basketball and, significantly, substantial social media followings.

Clark's 258,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter, is more than 100,000 followers more than Breanna Stewart, the current WNBA Most Valuable Player.

Reese — affectionately nicknamed 'Bayou Barbie' — will bring an X following of 415,000 to the WNBA.

Clark's impact on the business of college basketball in recent seasons is well documented. This season, Clark and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes set or broke attendance records in all but two of their games, according to the NCAA.

Sunday's collegiate championship