New data illustrates Caitlin Clark’s dominance in the college basketball conversation

The GIST: While official data points from women's March Madness have yet to drop, there’s a general consensus building that the women’s tournament is more compelling than the men’s. A recent Seton Hall Sports Poll (the first and only university-based poll on the sports industry) reflects the rising popularity of women’s college basketball. Let’s dive into the numbers.

47%: The percentage of the general population that can correctly identify Caitlin Clark, with 60% of self-described sports fans aware she’s an NCAA athlete. On a list of 10 NCAA basketball athletes — five women and five men — Clark was the most recognized. Famous and dangerous.

• The identification level for Clark was over 2x greater than any other athlete on the list, with 4x as many people recognizing her than the most-identified male player, Kansas Jayhawk Hunter Dickinson.

4: The number of women among the top six most-recognizable March Madness athletes in either bracket this year. After Clark, LSU’s Angel Reese was the next most identifiable athlete on Seton Hall’s list with 18% recognition by the general population, followed by 25% from sports fans.

48%: The proportion of the general population that plans on watching the NCAA women’s tournament, up 8% YoY. Among sports fans, 67% plan to watch the women’s tournament, which is a 10% boost from last year.

• Although a higher percentage plan to watch the men’s tourney, the YoY increase is relatively flat. Across the general population, 53% plan on watching (up 2% YoY), while 75% of sports fans hope to tune in, which is the same as last year. However, the high growth rate on the women’s side means advertisers and networks have a lot more real estate to work with.

Zooming out: Caitlin Clark may be carrying the March Madness brand this year, but there are other key factors at play, like improved media rights deals and exposure. And once Clark leaves for the WNBA, there’s still an exciting generation of players following in her footsteps. They’ve got next.