Caitlin Clark powering 700% increase in WNBA trading card prices leaving NBA cards in the dust
Caitlin Clark is the fuel that is pushing the WNBA to surpass its bigger brother the NBA in terms of growth.
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Caitlin Clark pushing WNBA trading card values past that of the NBA's
By now, it is becoming even more evident that the WNBA is in a position to surpass its big brother, the NBA, in terms of popularity. With Caitlin Clark spearheading the renaissance, her league is starting to hit heights whereas the NBA are faltering.
It was apparent when Luka Doncic‘s much-hyped debut game for the Los Angeles Lakers drew only 2.01 million viewers. ESPN has raked in that much during a WNBA regular season game whenever Clark is playing.
On top of it, the league’s recent All-Star weekend was in sharp contrast to how the WNBA’s own All-Star weekend played out last summer. There are still major differences as the NBA is a $100 billion juggernaut that keeps finding its way into the living rooms as superstars continue dominating the sporting world.
However, that could be changing soon if the WNBA continues to grow at its currently dizzying pace. One particular example of how that change is affecting showed up when The Athletic published a piece about rookie trading cards.
Panini’s 2024-25 NBA Prizm set will be released on Feb. 19 and the average presale price of a hobby box is currently around $800, according to Waxstat.
The Athletic wrote
This is after the WNBA’s Prizm box set from Panini is currently averaging around $1200. That is a 50% increase over the billion-dollar funded NBA. Moreover, the price for a similar WNBA box set in 2023 was $150. That is a staggering 700% increase in price all because of Caitlin Clark and the rookie class.
Caitlin Clark working on her game could push WNBA even higher
A’ja Wilson said that WNBA players face the most grueling schedule. By that what she meant was that WNBA players play in the league for five months. In the past, most of them would then fly away to play in foreign leagues.
By the time that is over, they had to return and get some quick rest before their next WNBA season started. This season, some of them have joined the Unrivaled League. But even then, they went from a couple of months of rest to playing fast paced and exhausting basketball until the middle of March.
After that, players will hardly get a few weeks of rest before they join their WNBA teammates for training camp. What this means is that players do not get adequate rest or the time to develop their individual game.
That has not been a problem for Caitlin Clark. After getting some substantial rest, the Indiana Fever superstar has been active at her workplace. She has been working out with assistant coaches and recently teamed up with her new veteran teammate.
From the clips so far, it is evident she is adding some skills along with improving her already dangerous play. If this continues, her development will force other players to focus on their own skills. This is something NBA stars have been doing for a long time.
Now if the women start to do this and help push the game away from its ‘boring high school basketball’ tag, it could help the WNBA grow at an exponential pace. That could invariably push everything associated with the league to grow at a faster pace.
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Joseph Varghese
(2526 Articles Published)